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AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE 
STUDY  OF  THE  ACTS  OF  THE 
APOSTLES 


BY 

J.   M.   STIFLER,  D.  D. 

PROFESSOR  OF     NEW    TESTAMENT     EXEGESIS     IN     CROZER 
THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY 


FLEMING   H.   REVELL  COMPANY, 

NEW  YORK.  CH.CAGO.  TORONTO. 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1892,  by 
Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,  in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of 
Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE 

This  is  not  a  commentary.  It  does  not  under- 
take to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  words  inscribed 
by  Luke.  It  assumes  that  their  meaning  is  already 
sufficiently  obvious.  Taking  the  book  of  -Acts  as 
it  exists,  this  work  attempts  to  trace  out  the  course 
of  thought,  and  to  account  logically  for  all  that 
Luke  has  written.  The  question  continually  be- 
fore the  author  has  been,  Why  was  this  said?  The 
facts  are  plain.  What  were  they  intended  to 
teach? 

This  explanation  shows  in  what  sense  this  book  is 
called  an  Introduction.  It  is  not  concerned  with 
the  time  or  place  of  the  writing  of  the  Acts.  It 
touches  no  questions  outside  of  Luke's  document 
except  as  that  question  is  directly  related  to  the 
historical  facts  given.  The  author  of  the  book  of 
Acts  wrote  with  a  purpose.  That  purpose  is  here- 
in sought. 

It  has  not  been  thought  best  to  cumber  these 
pages  with  learned  notes  and  references,  lest  the 
book  prove  more  difficult  than  to  read  the  treatise 
that  is  here  explained.  As  far  as  possible,  in- 
volved sentences  have  been  avoided.  Technical 
terms  have  been  shunned.     It  has  been  a  study  to 


PREFACE 


write  an  exposition  of  Acts  that  could  be  read  with 
profit  without  consulting  other  books. 

The  King  James'  version  is  the  basis  of  this  In- 
troduction. But  this  has  been  constantly  com- 
pared with  many  others,  the  Revised  version, 
Noyes',  T.  S.  Green's  (Twofold  New  Testament), 
American  Bible  Union  version  and  with  the  ren- 
derings in  the  commentaries.  All  the  standard 
expositors  have  been  consulted.  They  have  been 
serviceable  in  ascertaining  the  meaning  of  the  text; 
but,  with  the  exception  of  Baumgarten,  they  do  not 
specifically  keep  the  course  of  thought  in  view. 

The  original  text  has  been  studied  with  all  care, 
but  questions  of  criticism  are  not  frequently  dis- 
cussed. Only  such  as  materially  affect  the  course 
of  thought  are  treated  at  length.  But  doubtful 
passages  are  generally  noticed,  and  what  is  be- 
lieved to  be  the  correct  reading  is   indicated. 

Grateful  acknowledgment  is  made  to  Rev.  Rob- 
ert Cameron  of  Denver,  Colorado,  who  read  this 
book  in  MS.  and  made  many  valuable  suggestions. 

J.    M.    Stifler. 


Chester,  Pa.,   March  30th,  1892. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 1 

SECTION  I 

The  Preliminary  Chapter,  Acts  i.  1-26  ....  3 

SECTION  II 

The  Gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Acts  ii.  1-41  ....       14 

SECTION  III 

The  New  Community,  Acts  ii.  42-47 23 

SECTION  IV 

The  Apostles  Refuse  to  be  Directed    by  the  Council  and  find  a 

Spiritual  Guidance,  Acts  iii.  1 — iv.  35  .         .  .33 

SECTION  V 

The  Sacredness  of  the  Church,  Acts  iv.  36— v.  16         .         .  43 

SECTION  VI 

The    Divine     Endorsement     of    the    Apostles    as    Authoritative 

Teachers,  Acts  v.  17-42    .......       49 

SECTION  VII 

The  Church  Superior  to  its  Internal  Difficulties,  Acts  vi.  1-7  55 

SECTION  VIII 

The  Broadening  of  the  Church  in  the  Sphere  of  its  Work,  Acts 

vi.  8— ix.  43 58 

SECTION  IX 

Preparation  of  the  Church   for   the    Admission  of  the  Gentiles, 

Acts  x.  1— xi.  18 81 


CONTENTS 


SECTION  X 

Development  of  a  New  Religious  Center,  Acts  xi.  19-30        .  96 

SECTION  XI 

The  Church  in  Conflict  with  the  Religious  State,  Acts  xii.  1-24     104 

SECTION   XII 

The  Evangelization  of  the  Gentiles  formally  Begun,  Acts  xii.  25 

— xiv.  28  .  112 

SECTION  XIII 

The  Conditions  of  Salvation    for   the    Gentiles  Settled,  Acts  xv. 

1-35 128 

SECTION  XIV 

The  Gospel   in   Triumphant  Conflict  with  Heathenism,  Acts  xv. 

36— xviii.  22 147 

SECTION    XV 

The  Baptism  of  John  in  Contrast  with  the  Baptism  of  the  Holy 

Ghost,  Acts  xviii.  23— xix.  7 178 

SECTION  XVI 

The  Birth  of  the  Purpose  to  Evangelize  the  World,  Acts  xix.  8 — 

xxi.  16 189 

SECTION  XVII 

The  Gospel  Rejected  by  Jerusalem  finds  Refuge    in  the  Roman 

Castle,  Acts  xxi.  17— xxiii.  35 210 

SECTION  XVIII 

The  Gospel  Rejected  by  the  Jews  is  Forced  to  Appeal  to  Rome, 

Acts  xxiv. — xxvi.  .....        .,  232 

SECTION  XIX 

The  Gospel  on  the  Way  to  Rome,  Acts  xxvii. — xxviii.  10    .  258 

SECTION    XX 

The  Gospel  Reaches  its  Intended  Limit,  Acts  xxviii.  11-33  275 


INTRODUCTION 

Jesus  Christ  is  not  only  the  central  figure  in  his- 
tory, he  is  its  source.  Without  him  the  course 
of  events  from  the  first  century  to  the  present  time 
cannot  be  explained.  Judea  has  given  the  world 
the  men,  the  literature  and  the  institutions  which 
have  made  it. 

The  book  of  the  Acts  is  a  very  brief  history.  It 
covers  only  about  thirty  years.  But  it  is  doubted 
whether  any  other  thirty  years  in  all  the  world's 
centuries  have  seen  such  marvelous  social  and  re- 
ligious changes — changes,  too,  accomplished  with- 
out war  and  without  any  serious  shedding  of  blood. 
Every  hope,  every  sentiment  of  patriotism  and 
religipn  bound  the  Jew  to  the  law  of  Moses.  That 
law  was  never  more  scrupulously  observed  than 
in  this  very  period  when  it  lost  its  divisive  power. 
It  had  been  a  wall  between  Israel  and  the  Gen- 
tiles. The  latter  lay  in  the  soddenness  of  their 
sin,  despising  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  and  being 
themselves  heartily  despised  in  turn.  Nothing 
but  the  power  and  presence  of  Jesus  can  account 
for  the  coming  together  of  these  two  diverse  ele- 
ments on  the  common  level  of  the  church. 

When  Jesus  Christ  ascended  to  heaven  he  left  no 
church  behind.  He  left  no  commands  for  organ- 
izing a  church.    In  his  instructions  there  was  noth- 

1 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


ing  directly  involving  the  idea  of  an  assemblage  of 
believers  from  all  nationalities,  with  no  common 
bond  but  fraternal  love,  and  no  ruler  but  himself. 
To  be  sure  he  twice  mentioned  a  church,  but  there 
was  nothing  but  the  mention.  His  hearers  could 
not  understand  its  significance.  They  were  far 
from  understanding  much  that  he  taught.  Any 
One  of  the  twelve  who  might  sit  down  to  reflect  on 
his  moral  obligations  after  the  cloud  had  received 
Jesus  out  of  sight,  would  find  that  these  were  just 
two:  first,  he  must  himself  be  a  true,  holy  man, 
loyal  to  Jesus,  and,  secondly,  he  must  preach  the 
gospel.  The  heavenly  knowledge  which  Jesus' 
ministry  imparted  went  far  beyond  mere  duties. 
That  knowledge  gave  comfort,  insight,  life,  but 
not  the  idea  of  a  church.  Neither  before  his  as- 
cension nor  after  it  did  Jesus  teach  the  disciples  to 
organize  a  church.  Their  one  public  duty  was  to 
bear  witness  to  his  resurrection.  He  made  the 
church  himself.  It  is  his  own  creation.  And  the 
book  before  us  shows  the  series  of  acts  by  which  the 
church  was  formed  and  brought  to  its  perfection. 
The  book  of  Acts  naturally  falls  into  a  number 
of  concentric  sections  like  the  circles  that  mark 
the  yearly  growth  of  a  tree.  Each  new  one  in- 
cludes all  that  went  before  it.  These  sections 
mark  the  successive  stages  of  development  in  the 
church  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  A  careful 
tracing  out  of  these  is  necessary  to  a  proper  un- 
derstanding of  the  whole. 


THE  PRELIMINARY  CHAPTER 


SECTION    I 

THE    PRELIMINARY    CHAPTER 

Acts  i.  1-26 

This  first  chapter  of  the  Acts  is  introductory. 
It  shows  the  condition  of  things  at  the  moment 
when  the  new  era  is  about  to  dawn.  Before 
Mount  Moriah  was  yet  crowned  with  the  first  tem- 
ple, which  was  to  be  "exceeding  magnifical  of  fame 
and  of  glory  throughout  all  countries,"  (I  Chron. 
xxii)  David  said  to  the  youthful  Solomon:  "Be- 
hold, in  my  trouble  I  have  prepared  for  the  house 
of  the  Lord."  The  material  of  gold,  iron  and  cedar 
wood  was  gathered  and  ready.  But  it  lay  in  un- 
organized mass,  and  was  not  yet  erected  into  a 
house  of  prayer. 

David's  Son  in  much  trouble  had  prepared  for  the 
spiritual  house.  By  his  teaching  and  his  sacrificial 
death  there  were  now  in  Jerusalem  one  hundred 
and  twenty  souls  meet  for  the  new  order  of  things. 
Before  Luke  begins  this  history,  however,  he  men- 
tions a  number  of  details  whose  study  shows  not 
only  the  character  of  the  disciples  at  this  time,  but 
also  the  character  and  plan  of  the  book  itself.  It 
connects  itself  intimately  with  the  gospel,  but  it  is 
neither  an  appendix  nor  a  complement  of  it.  Luke's 
former  treatise   needed   no   such   addition,    for  he 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


declares  that  it  is  an  account  of  "all"  that  has  gone 
before.  It  is  complete  in  itself,  giving  an  outline 
of  Jesus'  history  from  his  birth  to  his  resurrection 
and  ascension.  That  these  last  two  should  be 
mentioned  here  again  is  at  first  perplexing,  but  the 
purpose  of  their  repetition  soon  discloses  itself,  as 
we  shall  see. 

The  gospel  gives  the  whole  story  of  Jesus'  career 
on  earth,  but  the  earthly  manifestation  did  not 
end,  it  only  commenced  his  career.  Hence  the 
very  first  verse  of  the  Acts  discloses  the  object  of 
this  second  writing:  "The  former  treatise  have  I 
made  of  all  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and  to 
teach."  The  emphasis  is  certainly  to  be  placed 
upon  the  word  began,  showing  that  now  we  are 
to  trace  the  further  activity  of  Christ  from  a  point 
at  which  the  gospel  leaves  it.  He  is  the  principal, 
the  only  agent.  If  the  emphasis  were  on  the  word 
Jesus,  the  view  to  be  taken  of  the  book  before  us 
would  be  quite  different.  We  must  then  understand 
that  while  Jesus  undertook  a  work,  his  disciples 
now  carry  it  on.  We  should  have  a  transfer  of 
agency,  and  must  make  them  the  principal  figures 
in  the  book  and  allow  Jesus  only  a  secondary  place. 
It  might  be  replied,  however,  that  the  book  is  not 
called  the  Acts  of  Jesus,  but  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles. If  he  is  the  directing  force  in  these  pages, 
why  this  title  ?  In  answer  it  must  be  said  that  one 
of  the  oldest  manuscripts  (Sinaiticus)  calls  the 
book  simply   Acts.      Little  weight  can  be  attached 


THE  PRELIMINARY  CHAPTER 


to  this,  however,  for  the  mass  of  testimony  is  for 
the  longer  title.  And  this  longer  title  must  be  in- 
terpreted by  the  contents  of  the  book  itself.  It 
gives  the  acts  of  but  a  few  of  the  Apostles,  and 
that  not  as  agents  but  as  instruments.  With  the 
exception  of  Peter,  no  one  of  the  twelve  occupies 
much  space  in  the  story,  and  most  of  them  none  at 
all.  Stephen  is  a  more  striking  character  than 
any  of  the  rest  of  the  original  number.  Moreover, 
to  have  called  the  book  what  it  really  is — the  Acts 
of  Christ  or  of  Jesus — would  have  been  inappro- 
priate. Such  a  title  would  have  better  befitted 
any  one  of  the  gospels.  The  book  is  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  because  they  were  used  to  carry  out  the 
will  and  the  spirit  of  the  enthroned  Christ. 

The  book  then  is  a  book  of  acts.  It  is  a  history 
of  striking  deeds.  It  shows  how  things  new  in 
God's  guidance  of  his  people  were  brought  to  pass 
and  established.  We  get  a  decided  hint  of  this, 
too,  in  this  very  first  verse.  The  former  treatise 
was  of  all  that  Jesus  began  to  do  and  to  teach. 
This  second  book  will  show  what  he  continues  to 
do  and  to  teach.  Like  the  gospel  story,  then,  it 
is  a  book  of  mighty  deeds,  as  well  as  of  wondrous 
speech.  Jesus  was  a  doer  there;  he  is  the  same 
here.  And  his  deeds  would  seem  to  have  the  fore- 
most place.  In  the  disposition  to  exalt  his  say- 
ings and  to  explain  the  miraculous  character  of  his 
works,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  is  his  saying 
that  he  is  to  be  believed  for  his  works'  sake  (John 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


x.  25;  xiv.  11).  The  latter  have  the  chief  place, 
and  to  understand  the  book  before  us  the  eye  must 
be  fixed  on  what  Christ  is  about  to  accomplish  by 
means  of  all  that  is  said  and  done.  This  first  verse 
is  in  large  measure  the  key  to  the  book. 

The  phrase  "until  the  day  in  which  he  was  re- 
ceived up,"  marks  the  terminus  of  the  earlier  story, 
and  the  exact  beginning  of  the  present  one.  There 
are  other  repetitions  of  the  former  treatise,  but 
none  without  significance.  We  know  from  the 
gospel  that  Jesus  had  his  own  chosen  disciples,  and 
that  he  had  instructed  them.  But  the  mention  of 
this  fact  here  shows  for  the  first  time  the  special 
aim  in  their  selection  and  training.  All  along, 
Jesus  had  intended  them  not  only  for  good  men  and 
good  preachers,  but  also  as  instruments  of  the  new 
work  which  he  was  about  to  do.  Of  their  sole 
relation  to  this  work  the  gospel  gave  no  hint.  And 
that  Luke  now  mentions  the  resurrection  (v.  3) 
again  after  detailing  it  so  fully  in  the  gospel — what 
else  can  he  mean  than  to  set  forth  that  which  is  to 
be  the  specific  office  of  the  twelve?  We  knew  they 
were  to  preach.  Now  we  know  the  theme  of  their 
preaching — that  he  that  was  dead  is  alive  forever- 
more. 

In  commanding  them  to  remain  in  Jerusalem 
(v.  4)  they  are  taught  that  the  new  activity  is  to 
begin  there,  that  it  is  his  will  that  it  should  begin 
there.  For,  let  the  reason  be  what  it  may  for  the 
presence  of  these  Galileans  in  the  holy  city  just  at 


THE  PRELIMINARY  CHAPTER 


this  time,  they  would,  even  without  his  instruc- 
tion, have  remained  until  Pentecost.  But  now 
they  know  that  they  are  to  tarry  for  a  higher  pur- 
pose— to  realize  the  Father's  promise.  Jesus  had 
taught  them  no  little  about  the  Holy  Spirit.  Now 
he  gives  them  in  the  comparison  with  John's  bap- 
tism a  hint  of  the  exalted  character  of  the  new 
realm  which  they  were  about  to  enter  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  In  this  comparison,  there  is  both  a  like- 
ness and  a  difference.  The  likeness  is  that  there 
was  in  both  cases  a  baptism,  an  overwhelming. 
But  the  difference  was  threefold.  First,  in  John's 
baptism  the  element  was  water,  now  it  is  to  be  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  entrance  into  that  which  is  nat- 
ural was  to  be  followed  by  an  admittance  into 
that  which  was  spiritual.  And,  strange  as  it  may 
sound,  the  baptism  was  to  be  into  a  person. 
Secondly,  in  John's  baptism  the  element  served 
once  for  all.  The  recipient  came  out  of  it  and  was 
done  with  it.  But  in  the  baptism  about  to  be  ad- 
ministered from  heaven  the  element  became  a  per- 
manent condition,  and  the  recipient  remained  in 
it.  Lastly,  in  John's  baptism  men  were  placed 
among  the  penitents.  In  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  men  are  brought  into  vital  relations  with  all 
that  is  in  the  spiritual  kingdom,  (Eph.  i.  3)  espe- 
cially its  Head.  If  in  John's  baptism  there  was  a 
breaking  with  sin,  in  this  of  the  Holy  Ghost  there 
is  a  union  with  God  in  Christ. 

The  question   asked   by   the   disciples    after  the 


8  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

resurrection — "Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore 
the  kingdom  to  Israel  ?" — serves  to  set  forth  both 
the  present  feelings  and  thoughts  of  the  disciples, 
and  the  deferred  but  not  changed  purpose  of  God  in 
reference  to  the  Jewish  nation.  Plainly  the  twelve 
had  no  thought  above  the  expectation  of  their 
times.  During  Jesus'  ministry  they  looked  for  the 
restoration  of  the  lost  supremacy  of  Israel,  and 
for  a  deliverance  from  Rome's  domination.  The 
terrible  scenes  of  the  crucifixion  and  the  infallible 
proofs  of  Jesus'  resurrection  had  not  altered  the 
current  of  their  hopes.  They  were  still  ignorant 
of  the  great  aim  in  Jesus's  life.  They  were  living 
on  a  very  low  plane.  They  looked  for  nothing 
but  a  carnal,  worldly  kingdom  with  a  carnal,  con- 
quering head.  If  these  hopes  had  been  dashed  by 
the  crucifixion,  they  were  revived  by  the  resurrec- 
tion. In  Jesus'  answer  to  their  query  he  does  not 
deny  the  validity  of  their  hope,  but  declares  that 
the  time  for  its  fulfillment  is  placed  in  the  Father's 
own  right.  He  thereby  intimates  that  the  su- 
premacy which  once  pertained  to  Israel  as  a  nation, 
was  not  to  be  restored  now.  A  certain  kind  of 
power  had  belonged  to  Israel  for  the  maintenance 
of  national  leadership  in  the  earth.  That  power 
had  left  them  and  their  national  supremacy  had 
long  since  ended.  Now,  however,  a  new  body  is 
to  be  called  out  with  a  new  kind  of  supremacy  and 
a  new  kind  of  power  for  its  administration.  That 
body  should  be  the  channel  of  grace,  and   the  in- 


THE  PRELIMINARY  CHAPTER 


strument  of  witness  in  the  world.  The  power  en- 
abling this  body  to  proclaim  the  grace,  and  to 
bear  testimony  to  the  person  and  work  of  the 
Lord,  was  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  disciples  are  not  only  ignorant,  they  are 
weak,  but  what  was  the  character  of  their  weak- 
ness? It  could  not  have  been  either  mental  or 
moral,  and  to  say  that  it  was  spiritual  does  not 
convey  a  very  definite  idea.  Their  natural  abil- 
ities were  good,  and  they  had  an  experience  of  three 
years  of  training  under  a  Master  who  knew  how  to 
teach.  The  use  of  this  word  "power"  is  clearly 
indicative  of  the  new  state  of  things  just  at  hand. 
It  also  suggests  the  thought  that  the  twelve  had 
not  received  up  to  this  time  that  which  was  neces- 
sary to  qualify  them  for  their  future  work.  They 
had  already  preached  the  gospel  of  the  Kingdom. 
They  had  cast  out  demons,  and  the  direction  for 
that  kind  of  service  had  been  full  and  clear.  (Mat- 
thew x.)  But  for  the  work  on  which  they  were 
about  to  enter  they  needed  much  more  than  their 
former  training  had  brought  to  them.  The  Holy 
Spirit  coming  upon  them  conferred  this  additional 
energy.  If  they  still  remained  members  of  the  old 
visible  kingdom,  it  was  a  kingdom  without  the 
power  that  had  once  belonged  to  it  in  its  dominion 
and  government.  They  were  now  brought  into 
fellowship  with  Christ,  made  members  of  his  body, 
and  partakers  of  his  spiritual  power.  If  he  had 
disappeared  from  their  eyes,  he    had  come   by  his 


10  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Spirit  into  their  hearts.  (John  xiv.  23.)  The 
truth  which  had  lodged  in  their  understandings 
through  the  teachings  of  Christ  became  a  living 
force  now.  They  were  guided  into  truth  (John  xiv. 
13),  and  its  essence  was  love.  The  Christ  who 
died  for  the  world  lived  in  them.  The  love  which 
led  him  to  die  for  the  world  would  lead  them  to 
live  for  the  good  of  the  world.  He  was  himself 
the  power  which  they  needed,  and  in  them  he 
would  go  forth  himself  to  save  the  world.  Instruc- 
tion alone,  even  the  very  best,  and  with  a  pupil 
never  so  earnest,  cannot  qualify  for  the  ministry. 
The  twelve  had  much  precious  teaching.  They 
were  devoted  to  the  Lord  as  few  have  been  since. 
They  were  ready  to  enter  upon  the  service,  but 
as  yet  they  were  unfitted  for  its  duties.  They  must 
be  endued  with  power  from  on  high.  Before  they 
spoke  a  word,  took  a  step,  or  in  anyway  undertook 
to  carry  out  the  last  commission  of  the  Master,  they 
must  patiently  wait  and  pray  in  Jerusalem  until 
this  promise  became  a  personal  experience. 

The  ascension  is  again  mentioned,  but  with 
some  additions.  The  repetition  in  this  connection 
shows  at  once  that  henceforth  Jesus  will  work 
from  on  high.  The  results  of  his  work  will  be 
seen  on  earth,  but  their  source  is  in  heaven.  In 
the  word  of  the  "two  men  in  white  apparel,"  spok- 
en to  the  disciples  gazing  into  heaven,  there  is  not 
only  the  comfort  that  he  will  come  again,  but  also 
a  quiet  reminder  that  meanwhile  these  gazers  must 


THE  PRELIMINARY  CHAPTER  11 


begin  their  work,  a  work  which  is  to  continue  until 
Jesus  is  again  manifested.  At  once  they  set  about 
it.  If  at  this  point  Luke  thinks  it  worth  while  to 
inform  the  reader  how  far  the  place  of  ascension 
was  from  Jerusalem,  or  rather  how  near,  "a  Sab- 
bath day's  journey,"  about  six  furlongs,  it  must  be 
that  he  intends  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  ascension 
was  virtually  from  the  holy  city  itself.  It  was 
within  the  sacred  precincts.  Jerusalem  was  the 
center  of  all  that  was  new. 

The  historian  now  leads  us  to  the  upper  room 
where  the  new  activity  is  so  soon  to  come  to  a 
focus.  The  catalogue  of  the  disciples'  names  is 
once  more  given,  and  some  other  persons  are  men- 
tioned, that  we  may  know  precisely  who  had  the 
honor  of  participating  in  the  advent  of  the  Spirit. 
It  is  pleasant  to  learn  that  Jesus'  own  brethren 
had  finally  accepted  him  as  the  Messiah,  and  were 
now  among  the  company,  awaiting  the  promised 
blessing  from  heaven.  Mary,  whose  name  is  not 
mentioned  again  in  the  New  Testament,  was  there 
with  other  women.  This  fact,  though  given  in  a 
word,  is  not  without  deep  meaning.  The  daugh- 
ters of  Israel  had  not  shared  in  John's  baptism. 
They  are  to  have  full  share  in  that  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  so  that  already  we  may  anticipate  Priscilla 
and  the  four  virgins  of  Philip's  household  in  their 
service  for  the  Lord.  That  all  this  company  was 
moved  to  continuous  prayer  for  ten  days,  shows 
that  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  had   made   such    an 


12  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

impression  upon  them  as  was  not  felt  before.  The 
ascension  of  Jesus  must  have  moved  them  pro- 
foundly. They  are  convinced  now  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  coming.  And  together  they  prayerfully 
await   the  hour. 

At  some  time  during  this  ten  days'  delay  they 
fill  the  breach  made  in  the  apostolic  company  by 
the  defection  of  Judas.  It  is  just  at  this  point  that 
the  number  of  the  names  is  given.  This  bit  of  in- 
formation is  very  significant.  Peter's  primacy  did 
not  qualify  him  to  appoint  Judas'  successor.  Even 
the  eleven  had  no  such  independent  authority. 
The  whole  number  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
participated  equally  in  this  act.  But  how  they 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  vacant  apostolic 
chair  must  again  be  occupied,  is  not  so  obvious. 
As  Jews  the  number  eleven  would  be  intolerable 
to  them.  In  their  full  number  they  saw  a  corre- 
spondence between  the  twelve  apostles  and  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  Jesus  himself  must  have 
led  them  to  think  of  such  a  correspondence  (Matt, 
xix.  28).  In  reflecting  on  these  things  Peter  would 
naturally  recall  the  Scripture  which  guided  them 
and  guided  aright.  Matthias  is  scripturally  chosen. 
In  Peter's  speech  we  find  the  death  of  Judas  de- 
tailed in  a  way  that  appears  to  conflict  with  Mat- 
thew's account.  But  do  verses  eighteen  and  nine- 
teen belong  to  Peter's  discourse?  Are  they  not 
interjected  here  by  Luke  to  justify  Peter  in  what  he 
said  and  proposed?     As  to  the  conflict  with   Mat- 


THE  PRELIMINARY  CHAPTER  18 


thew,  that  must  be  left  to  the  commentaries.  In 
Peter's  declaration  that  one  must  be  "ordained  to 
be  a  witness  with"  them,  we  learn  precisely  the 
apostles'  conception  of  their  own  office.  They 
had  something  specifically  different  from  the  rest 
of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty,  and  from  all  others, 
but  that  difference  did  not  consist  in  lordship. 
While  all  were  to  some  extent  witnesses  to  the  truth, 
the  twelve  were  chosen  and  qualified  witnesses  of 
the  resurrection.  They  were  instrumentally  found- 
ers of  the  church  in  truth,  but  not  its  rulers. 
And  whatever  may  have  been  the  power  of  the 
keys,  that  power  could  not  transcend  this — their 
own  definition  of  their  office — witnesses. 

Only  two  were  set  forth  for  the  suffrages  of  the 
rest,  because,  no  doubt,  no  more  were  found  with 
the  qualifications  named  by  Peter.  This  whole 
chapter  is  Jewish  in  its  character.  This  appears 
nowhere  so  clearly  as  in  the  fact  that  they  cast 
lots  to  learn  the  Lord's  will.  This  is  the  last  time 
that  the  use  of  the  lot  is  found  in  the  Bible,  for 
henceforth  the  disciples  have  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 


14  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  II 

THE  GIFT  OF  THE  HOLY    SPIRIT 

Acts  it.  1-4.1 

In  studying  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts,  alto- 
gether the  most  difficult  section  of  the  book,  we 
have  attempted  to  account  for  the  presence  of  each 
statement.  A  commentary  would  go  further  and 
justify  the  presence  of  every  word.  By  no  other 
means  than  the  former  can  this  or  any  other  book 
of  the  Bible  be  explained.  Nothing  is  said  with- 
out a  purpose,  and  when  that  purpose  is  ascertained 
the  book  lies  open  before  us.      Its   secret  is  ours. 

The  advent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  second  in  im- 
portance to  nothing  but  the  first  advent  of  Christ. 
God  gave  his  Son  that  he  might  also  give  the  "other 
Comforter."  In  the  section  before  us  Luke  means  to 
show  not  only  how  impressively  the  second  gift 
was  bestowed,  but  also  what  a  change  it  wrought 
in  the  hearts  and  understanding  of  the  twelve. 
The  latter  is  the  main  point.  Pentecost's  day  is 
well  on  in  its  course.  The  disciples  are  in  the 
upper  room  in  the  condition  in  which  the  first 
chapter  describes  them,  without  strength  and  with- 
out guidance  for  anything  further.  The  moment  is 
like  that  in  the  history  of  creation  when  the  earth 
was  without  form  and  void,  and  darkness  was  upon 


THE  GIFT  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 


the  face  of  the  deep — like  that  moment  when  God 
said,  "Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light."  The 
created  material  was  delivered  from  the  black  pall, 
and  beamed  forth  in  its  place  in  the  shining 
heavens.  The  disciples  were  the  material  fitted 
by  Christ's  own  hand.  The  light  now  dawns  on 
them,  it  gives  them  power  and  guidance,  and  they 
find  at  once  the  orbit  which  God  intends  them  to 
pursue  in  the  spiritual  realm. 

Is  there  significance  in  the  day  in  which  the 
great  event  occurred?  The  appropriateness  of 
Jesus'  death  at  the  Passover  is  easily  recognized. 
There  must  be  the  same  in  the  giving  of  the  Spirit 
at  Pentecost.  To  us  in  this  late  day  this  question 
seems  scarce  worth  answering.  But  to  Jews,  who 
lived  and  thought  in  an  atmosphere  of  rites,  espe- 
cially to  the  devout  among  them,  the  day  of  the 
Spirit's  advent  would  be  instructive.  Its  fitness 
would  strike  them.  The  paschal  and  the  Pente- 
costal festivals,  as  described  in  the  twenty-third 
chapter  of  Leviticus,  required  each  an  offering  to 
the  Lord  from  the  harvest  field.  These  offerings  had 
marked  differences.  At  the  Passover  there  was  a 
sheaf  to  be  presented;  at  Pentecost,  two  loaves  of 
bread;  the  sheaf  cut  off  and  offered  just  as  it  grew, 
the  loaves  prepared.  The  sheaf  was  vicarious — 
"accepted  for  you;"  the  loaves  were  not  so.  The 
sheaf  was  brought  before  the  Lord  without  a  sin 
offering,  the  two  loaves  were  accompanied  with 
one.     There  was  no    leaven  at  the    Passover;    the 


16  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Pentecost  loaves  were  baked  with  leaven.  Jesus — 
the  sheaf  cut  off,  presented  for  the  sins  of  Israel, 
without  leaven,  for  he  was  sinless,  and  without  a 
sin  offering  since  he  was  that  in  his  own  person — 
was  offered  to  God  at  the  Passover.  But  the  one 
hundred  and  twenty — who,  like  the  loaves,  were 
prepared,  and  like  them  were  not  vicarious,  but 
had  sin  in  them,  the  antitype  of  the  leaven  in  the 
loaves — were  offered  to  God  at  Pentecost.  If  the 
wave-loaves  needed  a  sin  offering  to  make  them 
acceptable,  so  did  this  company  in  the  upper  room 
need  the  mediating  mercy  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  they 
were  sinners.  In  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  there  was 
involved  the  divine  reception  of  the  believers  in 
new  relations,  and  it  is  this  reception  which  shows 
the  day  of  Pentecost  the  fit  one  for  its  accomplish- 
ment. 

The  outward  marks  of  the  Spirit's  presence  were 
three.  They  were  so  decided  that  none  could  mis- 
take them.  They  were  supernatural.  There  was 
the  sound  of  a  mighty  wind,  though  there  was  no 
wind;  there  were  the  tongues  of  flame,  each  of  the 
hundred  and  twenty  being  crowned  with  one;  there 
was  the  speaking  in  foreign  tongues,  which  so  as- 
tonished and  confounded  the  crowd  of  devout  Jews 
assembled  from  every  quarter  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire. These  miraculous  tokens  had  their  own 
meaning.  The  sound  of  a  wind  was  indicative  of 
the  pervasive,  life-giving  power  of  the  .Spirit.  It 
was  not  the  frightful  noise  of  a  hurricane,    narrow 


THE  GIFT  OF  THE  HOI  Y  SPIRIT  17 

in  its  range,  and  destructive.  The  fire  spoke  of  the 
Spirit's  purifying  energy,  and  the  tongues  of  the 
practical  intent  of  his  presence.  The  Spirit  made 
those  who  received  him  witnesses  to  the  truth. 
The  audible  sound  brought  the  multitude  together, 
but  the  tongues  of  flame  the  crowd  apparently  did 
not  see.  This  particular  manifestation  most  like- 
ly was  not  of  long  duration,  and  disappeared  be- 
fore the  company  descended,  as  we  must  assume, 
from  the  upper  room  to  the  court  below.  But  that 
these  Galileans,  known  no  doubt  by  their  dress  and 
general  appearance,  could  speak  in  man}'  different 
languages,  is  made  certain  by  the  testimony  of  the 
men  of  the  many  different  nations  who  heard 
them.  The  mixed  multitude  tried  to  account  for 
the  phenomenon,  but  utterly  failed. 

The  internal  marks  of  the  Spirit's  presence  are 
as  convincing  as  these  miracles.  Unlike  the  latter, 
they  appeal  not  to  the  senses,  but  to  the  under- 
standing, and  are  to  be  discovered  in  the  transfor- 
mation wrought  in  the  disciples.  What  courage, 
what  self-possession,  what  power  it  must  have  re- 
quired in  Peter  and  the  rest  to  stand  up  before  the 
thousands  in  Jerusalem  in  the  character  of  instruct- 
ors. It  was  months  later,  after  the  disciples  had 
gained  experience  in  public  speaking,  that  they  for 
the  first  time  are  compelled  to  address  the  great 
council.  Despite  this  length  of  experience,  the 
august  body  is  astonished  (Acts  iv.  13)  to  see  the 
freedom  or  "boldness"  with  which    Peter  and  John 


18  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


can  speak.  For  the  council  perceived  that  the 
men  were  devoid  of  training  and  of  humble  rank. 
It  was  these  men  who  unhesitatingly  stand  forth 
that  morning  in  a  presence  in  which  even  a  Wesley 
or  a  Spurgeon  might  tremble.  They  confidently 
take  the  position  that  belongs  only  to  the  accredit- 
ed religious  leaders.  To  be  sure  they  had  had  a 
little  experience.  Jesus  had  sent  them  forth  once, 
(Matt,  x),  perhaps  twice  (Luke  x),  to  proclaim  the 
good  news.  But  in  this  earlier  mission,  that  was 
at  most  of  but  a  few  weeks'duration,  how  different 
the  circumstances.  Then  their  Master  was  alive. 
Now  they  are  alone.  Then  their  message  was  a 
welcome  one — athe  kingdom  was  at  hand."  Now 
the  message  was  an  impeachment  of  the  nation. 
Then  they  went  abroad  in  their  own  home  prov- 
ince. Now  they  are  in  Jerusalem,  which  has  killed 
their  leader  as  a  malefactor.  That  Peter,  who  had 
hitherto  shown  no  little  inconstancy,  not  to  say 
cowardice,  could  now  stand  up  and  speak  to  this 
hostile  mass — he  addressed  the  hostile  part  first 
— is  to  be  accounted  for  only  as  he  accounted  for 
it,  by  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Christian  eloquence  is  not  a  gift  of  nature,  but 
of  grace.      Piety  is  necessary  to  the  best  oratory. 

But  when  Peter's  address  on  this  morning  is 
studied,  we  have  still  more  convincing  proof  of  the 
Spirit's  presence.  In  its  adroitness,  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  arguments,  in  its  analysis,  in  its  steer- 
ing clear  of  Jewish   prejudices,    in   its  appeal  and 


THE  GIFT  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  19 

effect,  it  is  without  a  peer  among  the  products  of 
uninspired  men.  As  an  example  of  persuasive  ar- 
gument it  has  no  rival.  The  more  it  is  studied  the 
more  its  beauty  and  power  are  disclosed.  And  yet 
it  is  the  work  of  a  Galilean  fisherman,  without  cult- 
ure or  training,  and  his  maiden  effort.  The  anal- 
ysis is  perfect.  He  begins  with  a  brief  defense  and 
a  scriptural  explanation  of  the  phenomenon  of  the 
tongues  (vs.  14-21).  His  argument  for  his  theme 
is  threefold:  first,  Jesus  is  proved  to  be  the  Mes- 
siah by  his  works  (v.  22) ;  secondly,  by  his  res- 
urrection (vs.  23-32),  and,  thirdly,  by  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  (vs.  33-35),  when  the  conclu- 
sion is  reached  in  verse  thirty-six.  The  analysis 
can  be  represented  to  the  eye  thus: 

I.     Defense. 


I.  Introduction  ^ 

(  2.     Explanation 

II.  Theme — Jesus  is  the  Christ. 


III.     (  1.   Jesus'  Works. 
Proof  -J  2.    His  Resurrection.  . .. 
.   The  Gift  of  the  Spirit. 


a-Quotation 

from  David. 
b-Exposition 

of  quotation. 

c-The  disciples 

are  witnesses. 


In  marshaling  these  arguments  there  is  great 
skill.  The  theme,  The  Messiahship  of  Jesus, 
which,  of  course,  was  in  Peter's  mind  from  the 
first,  is  not  announced  until  the  very  close  of  the 
address.  It  was  distasteful  to  the  hearers.  To 
announce  it  at  the  start  is  to  secure  its  scornful  re- 


20  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

jection  at  once,  or  at  the  very  least  to  awaken 
prejudices  that  will  harden  the  mind  against  the 
arguments  in  favor  of  it.  But  at  the  close  it  comes 
in  irresistibly,  supported  by  all  its  proofs.  Who 
taught  the  provincial  fisherman  this  bright  piece 
of  oratorical  wisdom?  How  was  it  that  when  he 
first  mentions  the  distasteful  name  of  Jesus  he  calls 
him  a  "man,"  and  does  not  declare  him  to  be  the 
Christ  until  he  has  proved  him  such?  What  guided 
him  so  that  he  did  not  at  the  start  turn  the  attention 
of  his  hearers  from  that  wondrous  phenomenon 
which  had  won  and  held  them — the  speaking  with 
tongues?  Again,  the  order  of  his  threefold  argu- 
ment shows  masterly  skill.  His  first  one  is  drawn 
from  the  acknowledged  facts  of  Jesus'  life — "as  ye 
yourselves  know."  His  second  is  from  the  Script- 
ures. His  third  from  the  wonder  now  before  them, 
the  gift  of  tongues.  He  puts  the  strong  argument 
first,  the  one  least  appreciated,  because  most  diffi- 
cult, in  the  middle,  and  the  most  impressive  one 
last.  Who  taught  the  unschooled  Peter  this  per- 
fection in  argumentation?  It  implies  a  metaphy- 
sician's knowledge  of  the  hearer's  reason  and  feel- 
ing. He  knows  just  how  the  auditor  must  be  ad- 
dressed to  be  won.  Beethoven  could  not  play  on 
the  pianoforte  with  more  masterfulness  than 
Peter  shows  in  touching  the  many  keys  in  the  hu- 
man heart. 

Again,  how.did  Peter  miss  the  pitfall  of  the  nov- 
ice in  not  making  in  this  address  a  great  deal  of  his 


THE  GIFT  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  21 

own  personal  experience?  Proof  of  this  kind  is 
powerful  in  the  right  place  and  person.  A  John 
may  begin  his  epistle  with  "that  which  we  have 
seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you."  A  Paul  may 
tell  the  story  of  his  conversion  again  and  again. 
And,  pre-eminently,  Jesus  may  come  to  men  with 
the  words:  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you."  Peter 
had  seen  and  heard  and  handled  Jesus  after  his 
resurrection.  He  was,  besides,  an  appointed  wit- 
ness. And  yet  he  makes  the  very  least  use  of  his 
office.  There  is  but  a  single  mention,  at  the  close 
of  the  second  argument,  in  the  words,  "whereof 
all  we  are  witnesses"  (v.  32.)  Immediately  he  car- 
ries the  hearers'  attention  to  that  which  had  been 
patent  to  their  eyes — the  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit — "which  ye  now  see  and  hear."  Who  taught 
Peter  to  make  this  limited  use  of  his  own  personal 
knowledge  of  the  resurrection?  And  who  taught 
him  the  higher  wisdom  to  put  this  particular  argu- 
ment in  just  the  right  place? 

Pages  might  be  written  on  the  grandeur  of  this 
address,  which,  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  was  ex- 
temporaneous. But  this  is  sufficient  to  show  that 
he  who  wrote  it  Was  either  under  supernatural  in- 
fluence, or  was  a  supernatural  person.  To  deny  the 
inspiration  of  the  address  is  to  cast  us  on  the  other 
horn  of  the  dilemma,  that  Peter  was  more  than 
mortal  man.  It  does  not  relieve  the  question 
much  to  say  that  Luke  or  any  one  else  put  it  in 
Peter's  mouth.      For  then   Luke,    or  that   other 


22  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

supposititious  person,  must  be  more  than  mortal. 
The  structure  of  the  speech  transcends  human 
power.      It  must  have  come  from  God's  Spirit. 

It  need  but  be  noted  what  a  change  occurred 
in  the  apostles'  knowledge  about  the  resurrection. 
Up  to  Pentecost's  day  they  had  never  understood 
it.  They  had  questioned  "one  with  another  what 
the  rising  from  the  dead  should  mean"  (Mark  ix. 
10).  When  Jesus  died  they  had  no  hope  of  his 
rising,  and  when  it  was  first  reported  that  he  had 
triumphed  over  the  grave,  they  doubted  the  story. 
Their  conception  of  the  Messiah  had  been  so  much 
at  variance  with  what  he  proved  to  be,  that  their 
eyes  were  closed  to  every  ray  of  light  from  their 
Scriptures.  But  now  they  so  clearly  see  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection  in  the  sacred  Records  that 
they  use  them  in  proof  of  it.  The  Holy  Spirit 
opened  for  them  the  pages  of  the  Book.  They 
had  read  it  before.     They  understood  it  now. 

The  results  of  Peter's  sermon  speak  for  them- 
selves, and  clearly  testify  to  the  presence  of  Mes- 
sianic power.  The  vast  concourse  is  bowed  in  an 
agony  of  conviction,  and  three  thousand  publicly 
enroll  themselves  as  the  followers  of  Jerusalem's 
rejected  king. 

This  section,  then,  like  every  other  one  in  the 
book,  carries  the  credentials  of  its  divinity  within 
itself,  and  shows  that  what  was  done  was  not  the 
work  of  man,  but  the  gracious  and  miraculous  deed 
of  the  ascended  Lord. 


THE  NEIV  COMMUNITY  23 


SECTION  III 

THE  NEW  COMMUNITY 

Acts  ii.  4.2- tf 

The  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  had  instant  and 
marked  effects  on  the  apostles.  They  became  new 
men.  The  history  shows  next,  in  a  very  brief 
section,  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  on  the  thou- 
sands who  believed  the  word  spoken  by  Peter.  The 
better  to  understand  this  piece  we  must  ask  here 
what  the  Spirit  does  for  men  under  the  new  dis- 
pensation. He  was  in  the  world  before  Pente- 
cost's day.  In  the  very  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
he  is  mentioned,  and  again  in  the  sixth.  David 
prayed  "take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me,"  and  the 
prophets  "searched  what  or  what  manner  of  time 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them  did  signify" 
(I  Pet.  i.  11.)  Both  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth 
were  "filled  with  the  Spirit,"  and  prophesied  under 
his  power.  And  Jesus  breathed  on  his  disciples 
and  said,  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost"  (John  xx. 
22).  How  did  these  Old  Testament  endowments 
differ  from  this  in  the  New?  First,  not  in  the 
moral  fruits.  Love,  joy,  peace,  regeneration  were 
no  less  known  by  the  pious  Israelite  than  by  the 
Christian.  Peter  had  no  more  delight  and  comfort 
in  the  Lord  than  David  found.      Indeed,    he   only 


24  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

began  to  understand  and  preach  David's  Psalms 
when  he  received  the  power  from  on  high.  Nor, 
again,  was  the  difference  in  certain  extraordinary, 
not  to  say  miraculous,  manifestations  like  the  gift 
of  tongues.  There  was  something  similar  to  this 
in  the  Old  Testament.  Saul  raved  in  prophecy, 
and  saw  others  do  the  same  (I  Sam.  x.  5,  6,  10; 
xix.  23,  24.)  David  danced  before  the  Lord,  and 
the  prophets  heard  voices  and  saw  visions.  The 
signs  of  the  Spirit's  presence  were  more  abundant 
in  the  New  Testament  era,  but  they  were  tempo- 
rary. They  ceased  in  a  short  time,  probably  before 
the  end  of  the  first  century.  It  was  not  intended 
that  they  should  continue. 

The  New  Testament  Spirit  is  given  largely  for 
service.  Judaism  was  not  intended  to  spread. 
Christianity  was.  The  world  was  to  be  evangelized 
by  Christ's  followers,  and  with  this  work  before 
them,  the  great  qualifying  gift  was  given,  as  it 
appears  from  Jesus'  promises:  "He  shall  glorify 
me."  "He  shall  convince  the  world  of  sin."  "Ye 
shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
come  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto 
me."  And  that  he  came  with  a  manifestation  of 
tongues  was  not  accidental,  but  indicative  of  his 
office. 

In  six  particulars,  at  least,  the  New  Testament 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  differed  from  the 
Old  Testament  possession. 

First,    he  was  given   to  every  follower  of  the 


THE  NEW  COMMUNITY  25 

Lord.  "It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days 
that  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  on  all  flesh;"  that 
is,  on  believers  of  every  rank,  sex,  age,  or  social 
station;  on  old  men  and  young  men,  on  males  and 
females,  on  bond  and  free.  In  the  former  age  he 
was  given  only  to  official  persons,  judges,  (Judges 
xv.  14)  kings,  prophets,  priests.  His  power 
seemed  also  to  inhere  in  the  office  and  to  affect  the 
incumbent  no  matter  what  he  might  be  morally. 
Hence  the  true  prophecy  of  wicked  Caiaphas 
(John  xi.  51).  The  New  Testament  gift  raised 
every  man  in  the  kingdom  to  the  exalted  rank  held 
formerly  only  by  the  few.  Hence  in  the  present 
dispensation  all  the  followers  of  Jesus  are  ad- 
dressed as  a  "royal  priesthood,"  a  "holy  priest- 
hood" (I  Pet.  ii.  5).  Jesus  was  speaking  of  John 
as  a  witness,  when  he  said,  "He  that  is  least  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  he."  The 
humblest  disciple  of  Jesus  to-day  stands  high- 
er than  John,  and  is  capable  of  a  clearer  testimony 
to  Jesus  than  this  last  and  greatest  of  the  prophets. 
The  second  difference  is  that  in  this  latter  age 
the  gift  of  the  Spirit  is  bestowed  on  none  but  good 
men.  He  makes  and  keeps  them  good.  In  the 
kingdom  of  grace  there  is  no  place  for  a  Caiaphas, 
a  Baalam  or  a  Saul,  son  of  Cis.  They  could  not 
receive  the  Spirit  now.  His  presence  is  not  out- 
ward, but  inward,  not  only  on  men,  but  in  them. 
He  touches  and  masters  the  flesh.  A  David  would 
be  restrained  from  his  gross  and  cruel  immoralities. 


26  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

And  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was  while  yet 
under  the  old  dispensation  that  Peter  denied  the 
Lord,  and  Judas  betrayed  him.  In  the  former  day 
an  unregenerate  man  might  hold  the  office  of  priest 
or  prophet,  or  king,  and  bean  offiaai  witness  of  the 
truth.  But  now  the  witness  must  know  the  truth 
experimentally. 

Again,  the  Spirit  to-day  unifies.  By  him  all 
Christ's  followers  are  baptized  into  one  body. 
He  unites  them  each  to  each,  and  all  to  Christ  (I 
Cor.  xii.  13;  Eph.  i.  23).  The  Old  Testament 
kingdom  was  a  unit,  but  not  a  spiritual  one.  It 
was  held  together  by  a  code  of  laws,  by  a  constitu- 
tion. It  could  embrace  men  of  but  one  nationality. 
The  spiritual  kingdom  began  so,  but  it  soon  broad- 
ened and  became  a  "holy  nation,"  welcoming  men 
of  all  lands.  Their  speech  and  blood  might  differ, 
but,  without  any  visible  bond  of  union,  their  sym- 
pathies, their  character,  their  conduct,  their  aims 
were  alike,  and  all  knew  and  owned  the  same 
Lord. 

Again,  by  the  Holy  Spirit  the  New  Testament 
believer  is  received  into  a  relationship  with  God 
that  was  not  realized  by  the  saints  under  the 
former  covenant.  "Ye  have  not  received  the  spirit 
of  bondage  again  to  fear,  but  ye  have  received  the 
Spirit  of  adoption  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father" 
(Rom.  viii.  15).  Christ  is  the  first  born  among 
many  "brethren"  (Rom.  viii.  29).  They  constitute 
a  "household  of  God"  (Eph.  ii.  19)  as  well  as  a 
church. 


THE  NEW  COMMUNITY  27 

Again,  by  the  Holy  Spirit  God  dwelt  in  his  church. 
It  became  his  temple  (Eph.  ii.  22).  In  the  former 
days  God  dwelt  with  his  people  only  by  symbol. 
His  temple  was  material,  and  he  was  present  only 
by  the  shekinah.  It  is  in  this  respect  that  the 
latter  house  far  excels   the    glory   of    the  former. 

Finally,  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  inthe  latter  days  was 
a  permanent  endowment.  "He  shall  abide  with 
you  forever"  (Jno.  xiv.  16).  He  deserted  Saul, 
the  first  king  of  Israel,  and  he  lost  his  office.  No 
doubt  this  is  David's  meaning  when,  in  remorse  for 
his  crimes,  he  cries,  "Take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from 
me"  (Ps.  Ii).  He  had  good  reason  to  fear  that  it 
might  go  with  him  as  it  had  gone  with  his  prede- 
cessor, and  that  he  might  lose  his  crown.  David's 
prayer  must  not  be  interpreted  in  a  New  Testament 
sense.  Men  might  lose  the  Holy  Spirit  then.  The 
symbol  of  his  presence  might  desert  the  Jewish 
temple  forever.  But  in  the  present  blessed  age 
he  is  present  to  stay. 

In  limiting  his  presence  to  believers  the  scope 
of  these  remarks  will  not  be  forgotten.  They 
compass  only  those  points  in  which  the  New  Tes- 
tament gift  of  the  Spirit  is  peculiar.  In  every  age 
regeneration  is  impossible  without  him.  If  in 
Paul's  day  the  Lord  must  open  Lydia's  heart  in 
order  that  she  might  attend  to  the  word  spoken 
(Acts  xvi.  14),  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  that 
word  could  anywhere  or  ever  win  saving  human 
attention  without  the  direct,  divine  and  precedent 
aid. 


28  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Should  it  be  asked  why  the  Holy  Spirit  was  not 
given  before  Christ  came,  one  consideration  is 
sufficient  for  an  answer.  He  is  the  witness  to  the 
truth,  and  to  what  could  he  testify  until  the  truth 
came  ? 

The  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit  being  of  this  char- 
acter we  can  readily  understand  his  influence  on 
the  believers  at  Pentecost.  A  new  community 
was  formed,  new  not  merely  in  time,  but  in  char- 
acter. The  bond  being  spiritual  they  were  not  vis- 
ibly separated  from  the  old  community.  The  tem- 
ple prayers  and  sacrifices  were  not  abandoned. 
But  their  connection  with  Judaism  was  but  local, 
while  the  union  among  themselves  was  in  the  liv- 
ing Christ,  and  in  a  brotherhood  in  Him.  They 
were  in  the  same  vine  with  the  other  sons  of  Israel, 
but  alive  now  and  fruitful,  while  all  their  fellows 
were  dead.  They  did  not  yet  reject  the  old,  for 
that  was  God's  too,  but  they  admitted  the  new. 
This  newness  was  threefold  and  of  such  a  char- 
acter that  its  existence  can  be  ascribed  only  to  the 
Spirit  sent  down  by  the  ascended  Lord.  It  is  his 
product  and  not  man's. 

First,  the  thousands  accepted  new  spiritual 
guides.  They  "continued  in  the  apostles'  doc- 
trine." The  full  meaning  of  this  can  be  gained 
only  by  reflection.  Who  were  these  apostles  who 
in  an  hour  won  so  large  a  following,  and  one  that 
could  not  be  drawn  from  them  afterward?  They 
were  untutored  men  from  a  distant  province.   They 


THE  NELV  COMMUNITY 


were  unknown  in  Jerusalem,  were  without  creden- 
tials, and,  unlike  the  scribes,  carried  the  diploma  oi 
no  school.      No  one  would  for  a   moment  think  of 
saluting  them  as  Rabbi.      And    yet  the    thousands 
took  them  for  instructors  in   questions   pertaining 
to  eternal  life,  and  refused  henceforth  to  be  led  by 
those  qualified  and  recognized  by  their  own  law  as 
moral  guides.      If   the  students  in  a  modern  divin- 
ity school  should  abandon  their  learned  and  pious 
professors  to  follow  thereafter  an  obscure  and  fan- 
tastic street  preacher,  the  marvel  would  be  no  great- 
er.     And  it  would  mean  the  same  thing,    viz:   that 
God  was  recognized  to  be  with  the  street  preacher. 
Men   like  Luther    and  Wesley  have    won   a  large 
following  after  years  of  patient  toil.    But  who,  save 
the  fisherman  of  Galilee,    won    it   in  a  day?     God 
was  with  him.      The   matter  cannot    be  explained 
unless  we  admit  the   overpowering  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,      He  bound  the  thousands  together, 
and  bound  them  to  Peter.    They  saw  now,  as  Jesus 
saw,  that  the  Jewish  scribe  and  the  doctors  of  the 
law  were  "blind   guides,"    with   no   light  in  them. 
A  second  feature  in  the  new  community  was  their 
cheerful  acceptance   of  new  ordinances.      Though 
they   continued   in   fellowship   with    Judaism,    its 
prayeis,  and  its  temple   worship,    they   were    also 
all  baptized,  and  they  all   observed   the    commun- 
ion.     The  baptism  is  not   so   striking  in  the   new 
community,  for  John  had  already  made  a  place  for 
it.     Besides,  the  Mosaic   law,  with    its   rabbinical 


30  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

additions,  had  accustomed  the  Jews  to  the  religious 
use  of  water.  But  the  communion  was  wholly 
new.  It  spoke  of  the  suffering  of  Jesus,  by  im- 
plication of  his  resurrection  and  directly  of  his 
coming  again.  It  was  no  more  radically  Christian 
than  is  baptism,  but  its  meaning  was  harder  to 
see.  But  they  saw  it,  and  communed  in  breaking 
of  bread.  And  then,  unlike  baptism,  the  communion 
was  a  weekly,  not  to  say  a  daily,  ordinance  of  the 
new  community.  This  new  rite  could  not  have 
been  established  unquestioningly  and  at  once  by 
any  human  power.  Think  what  it  would  cost  now 
to  add  in  any  Protestant  denomination  a  third  or- 
dinance to  the  two  already  recognized.  Both  doc- 
trines and  ordinances  may  vary  from  century  to 
century,  but  the  latter  neither  increase  nor  dimin- 
ish in  number.  Peter's  followers  accept  two.  It 
argues  the  divine  presence.  The  ordinances  are 
divinely  created  in  their  number  and  character. 
No  human  power  could  possibly  impose  a  third  to- 
day if  even  there  existed  the  disposition  to  do  so. 
And  what  men  could  not  do  now  they  could  not 
have  done  then.  If  the  water  and  the  blood  bear 
record  to  the  truth  (I  Jno.  v.  8)  along  with  God's 
Holy  Spirit,  it  is  because  the  water  and  the  blood 
are  the  Spirit's  ordained  witnesses.  They  are  not 
man's. 

The  third  feature  in  the  new  society  was  the  com- 
munity of  goods,  a  striking  testimonial  of  the  "unity 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace."  The  thousands 


THE  KEIV  COMMUNITY  31 

recognized  that  they  were  one  body  in  the  Lord. 
To  abandon  the  individual  title  to  possessions 
is  an  act  contrary  to  nature.  The  love  of  prop- 
erty, covetousness,  the  sense  of  need,  make  men 
cling  to  what  they  have.  There  is  no  wickedness 
in  honest  possession.  By  what  power  did  these 
men  triumph  over  their  natural  instincts,  so  that 
they  gave  up  their  property  and  made  themselves, 
their  wives  and  children,  penniless?  Men  never 
did  so  before,  and  they  have  not  done  so  since, 
except  in  feeble  imitation  of  these. 

But  the  Jew  had  a  double  love  for  his  temporali- 
ties. Property  was  to  him  a  token  of  heaven's  bless- 
ing. When  his  ways  pleased  Jehovah  that  compla- 
cence was  shown  in  an  increase  in  flocks  and  herds, 
and  in  abundant  harvests.  To  be  poor  was  to  be 
under  the  divine  frown.  How  came  these  people  to 
obliterate  their  visible  proof  of  heaven's  favor  un- 
less they  had  received  an  invisible  one?  They  had 
the  testimony  of  their  hearts  to  God's  love  toward 
them,  and  now  no  longer  needed  the  grosser  testi- 
mony of  their  wealth.  That  the  church  in  after 
ages  has  found  it  most  difficult  to  maintain  the 
spirit  of  this  Pentecostal  benevolence,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  letter,  goes  far  in  showing  the  extraor- 
dinary influence  prevailing  in  that  early  day.  Con- 
vinced as  they  were  that  the  Messiah  had  given 
his  life  for  them,  they  must  have  thought  it  but 
right  to  give  at  least  their  property  for  his  sake. 
t,  Where  there  is.  no  pecuniary  benevolence  there  is 


32  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

no  evidence  of  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  * 
These  three  features  of  the  new  community  were 
the  work  of  Christ  through  his  Spirit.  Mere  hu- 
man power  could  not  have  produced  them.  What 
he  does  indicates  his  will,  and  ought  to  guide  his 
followers  in  all  time.  The  continuance  in  the 
apostolic  teaching  and  in  the  ordinances  is  main- 
tained. Why  is  not  the  community  of  goods  au- 
thoritative? It  might  be  said  that  we  have  the 
spirit  of  it  in  the  general  benevolence  of  the  church. 
But  this  answer  will  not  serve.  The  ordinances  are 
binding  in  the  letter  and  in  the  form.  Why  not 
the  community  of  goods?  Only  because  of  sub- 
sequent apostolic  instruction  in  which  Peter  clearly 
admits  a  man's  right  to  his  own  (Acts  v.  4).  Be- 
sides, there  is  no  evidence  that  any  church  outside 
of  Jerusalem  had  all  things  in  common.  The  evi- 
dence points  the  other  way.  On  other  grounds 
Christ's  followers  are  bound  to  be  benevolent,  but 
they  are  under  no  obligation  to  maintain  a  common 
purse. 


SPIRITUAL  GUIDANCE  33 


SECTION  IV 

THE  APOSTLES  REFUSE  TO  BE  DIRECTED  BY  THE 
COUNCIL  AND  FIND  A  SPIRITUAL   GUIDANCE 

Acts  iii.  I — iv.  j$ 

The  Scripture  considered  in  the  last  section 
gives  an  outlook  of  a  year  or  more  over  the  believ- 
ing society.  It  was  not  for  one  day  or  for  one 
month  that  they  "continued"  in  the  apostles'  doc- 
trine, and  in  the  maintenance  of  the  communion, 
and  of  their  common  treasury.  But  now  Luke 
turns  from  the  history  of  the  church  to  an  episode 
which  belongs  to  some  time  in  this  history.  There 
is  no  hint  of  the  precise  date.  But  from  the  sub- 
stance of  the  section  it  looks  as  if  some  months, 
not  to  say  a  whole  year,  intervened  between  it  and 
Pentecost.  Among  other  things  we  are  informed 
in  this  passage  that  the  community  of  goods  was 
kept  up.  How  can  this  second  mention  be  justi- 
fied unless  we  admit  a  considerable  lapse  of  time 
between  it  and  the  first  mention?  But  at  what- 
ever date  the  event  before  us  occurred,  for  this  is 
not  material,  the  lesson  is  plain.  It  comes  out 
clearly  in  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  verses  of 
the  fourth  chapter.  God  delivers  the  church  from 
the  direction  of  the  Jewish  council.  The  church's 
own   conscience,  inspired   and   enlightened  by  the 


34  THE  ACTS  OP  THE  APOSTLES 

divine  Spirit  becomes  its  sole  guide.  In  other  words, 
not  even  an  implied  director  must  exist  between 
Christ  and  his  people.  The  Sanhedrin  is  defied. 
The  believers  will  follow  the  lead   of  Jesus   only. 

Somewhere  among  the  "wonders  and  signs" 
which  attended  the  church  all  along  (ii.  43)  one 
was  wrought  so  marked  that  the  authorities  must 
notice  it.  The  lame  man  was  healed  within  the 
temple  itself.  He  was  well  known,  as  he  daily 
occupied  the  same  place  before  the  beautiful  gate 
of  the  temple.  The  temple  worshipers  were  ac- 
quainted with  his  ailment  and  its  character.  The 
man,  when  healed,  thoroughly  advertised  the  fact 
by  his  wild  demonstration  of  delight  in  the  temple. 
He  stood,  he  walked,  he  leaped,  he  shouted  in 
praise  to  God.  He  makes  a  lively  use  of  his  new- 
found powers. 

After  the  resurrection  the  rulers  appear  to  have 
paid  no  attention  to  the  religious  movement  in  the 
city.  Having  secured  the  death  of  Jesus,  and 
having  heard  nothing  about  him  now  for  some  time, 
they  may  have  persuaded  themselves  that  the  work 
begun  by  him  was  at  an  end.  They  may  not  have 
been  informed  of  the  apostles'  activity  in  the 
months  just  passed,  or,  if  they  heard  of  it,  they  had 
ignored  it.  But  be  the  reason  for  the  rulers'  in- 
difference up  to  this  time  what  it  may,  the  healing 
of  the  lame  man  led  them  to  act,  and  to  act  de- 
cidedly. But  they  had  not  merely  the  miracle  to 
stir  them.      It   was  accompanied  by  a  speech  from 


SPIRITUAL  GUIDANCE  35 

Peter  that  must  have  inflamed  them.  Its  temper 
js  wholly  different  from  that  at  Pentecost.  He  be- 
gins with  a  series  of  pungent  antitheses  characteriz- 
ing their  conduct  in  rejecting  Jesus.  God  glori- 
fied him.  Ye  delivered  him  up.  Ye  denied  him 
when  even  the  heathen  Pilate  would  have  let  him 
go  free.  Ye  refused  a  holy  man,  and  chose  as 
your  idol  a  murderer.  Ye  killed  the  very  Prince 
of  life,  but  God  set  himself  against  your  conduct 
in  that  he  raised  him  from  the  dead.  It  is  he 
whom  ye  accounted  a  malefactor — it  is  through 
him  that  this  benevolence  is  exhibited  before  you. 
These  stinging  words  must  have  been  like  live 
coals  in  their  consciences.  But  Peter  grows  con- 
ciliatory. Though  he  does  not  excuse  their  wicked 
conduct,  he  accounts  for  it.  It  flowed  from  an 
ignorance  whose  black  pall  covered  people  and 
rulers  alike.  With  what  significance  he  says 
"your"  rulers.  How  much  it  implies.  They  are 
yours,  and  we  have  more  light  than  they  possess. 
There  is  a  self-consciousness  of  independence  and 
superiority.  This  single  word  shows  the  drift  of 
this  section. 

But  Peter  encourages  his  hearers.  He  is  a  Jew, 
and  they  are  Jews.  He  assures  them  that  on 
their  repentance  their  sins  against  the  Messiah, 
black  as  he  has  shown  them  to  be,  can  be  blotted 
out.  They  are  to  repent  also  (iii.  19)  in  order 
that  (the  "when"  of  the  King  James'  version  is 
wholly  incorrect)  the  predicted  times  of  refreshing 


30  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

may  come,  and  that  God  may  send  them  Jesus 
Christ.  All  the  prophets  have  foretold  these  hap- 
py days  to  come.  The  Messiah  is  absent  now, 
but  only  until  the  time   of  restitution    (iii.   19-26). 

The  speech  is  spiritual,  it  demands  repentance, 
but  its  promises  are  largely  Jewish.  The  hope 
held  out  is  not  that  the  hearer  may  depart  and  be 
with  Christ,  it  is  that  Christ  may  return  and  be 
with  him.  It  answers,  as  far  as  it  can  be  answered, 
the  question  of  the  first  chapter,  asked  just  before 
the  ascension:  "Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore 
the  kingdom  to  Israel?"  Peter  has  learned  some- 
thing meanwhile.  Christ  has  been  received  in 
heaven,  but  he  will  come  again  at  the  restoration 
of  all  things  spoken  by  the  prophets.  It  is  the  old 
Jewish  hope,  but  its  grossness  is  eliminated.  It 
is  the  hope  set  before  the  Jewish  heart  to-day. 

This  promise  of  his  coming  again  must  have 
stirred  the  rulers.  It  implied  not  only  his  resurrec- 
tion, but  a  revival  of  all  the  trouble  that  they  had 
made  for  themselves  when  he  was  present.  The 
priests,  the  chief  of  police  in  the  temple  and  the 
Sadducees  have  Peter  and  John  arrested.  What  is 
the  charge?  That  they  taught  the  people,  and 
preached  the  resurrection  (iv.  2).  It  was  the 
speech  that  went  to  their  souls.  They  would  have 
been  glad  enough  to  consider  it  apart  from  the 
healing  of  the  lame  man,  but  they  could  not.  The 
command  of  the  Sanhedrin  was  not  that  they 
should  not  heal,  but  that   they   should   not   teach. 


SPIRITUAL  GUIDANCE  37 

Peter's  address  to  the  people  was  the  real  griev- 
ance. He  and  his  fellow  laborer  are  imprisoned 
until  the  morrow.  They  have  met  their  first  op- 
position. But  how  mild  it  is.  They  are  shut  up 
only  because  the  day  is  too  far  gone  for  an  imme- 
diate trial.  There  are  no  harsh  Roman  guards,  no 
chains,  no  stocks.  These  came  later,  after  the 
flesh  of  the  witnesses  has  become  somewhat  indu- 
rated. God  spares  them  from  an  overwhelming 
trial  at  the  start.  The  first  time  their  Master  was 
arrested  he  was  chained  and  mocked  and  killed. 
Not  so  the  followers. 

At  this  point  (v.  5),  while  we  are  waiting 
for  the  morrow,  the  history  gives  us  the  num- 
ber of  the  believers.  While  the  five  thousand 
were  Jews,  every  one,  they  were  something 
more,  much  more.  The  difference  was  such 
that  they  were  known,  and  could  be  counted. 
Peter's  teaching  was  not  only  filling  the  city,  that 
was  not  so  serious,  but  it  was  putting  a  spiritual 
stamp  on  men,  a  stamp  plain  to  be  seen.  And 
that  there  were  five  thousand  such  who  could  no 
longer  be  counted  with  the  multitude,  but  must  be 
allotted  to  Peter's  party,  was  not  soothing  to  the 
rulers.  Church  statistics  are  significant  and  valu- 
able when  they  imply  character  rather  than  num- 
bers. 

With  the  dawn  of  day  the  great  Jewish  council 
meets.  To  show  the  seriousness  of  the  hour  Luke 
gives  the  names  of  some  of  the  high  functionaries. 


38  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Annas  and  his  son-in-law  Caiaphas  we  have  met 
before.  John  and  Alexander  are  unknown.  Their 
names  are  mentioned  for  their  official  weight,  not 
for  their  moral  worth.  And  now  Peter  stands  in  a 
presence  the  most  august  on  earth.  He  is  not 
abashed.  He  makes  his  defense  with  such  skill 
and  ease  of  utterance  as  to  win  the  admiration  of 
his  inimical  judges.  His  opening  sentence  has  a 
sting  of  sarcasm  in  it:  "If  we  this  day  be  exam- 
ined of  the  good  deed  done,"  we,  men,  charged 
with  a  work  that  is  certainly  superhuman,  charged, 
too,  not  with  a  crime  but  with  a  deed  of  benevo- 
lence. The  council  was  at  a  disadvantage  from 
the  start.  The  fishermen  were  too  much  for  the 
astute  Sanhedrists.  The  latter  were  vexed  with 
the  apostles'  teaching,  but  they  could  not  disjoin 
it  from  the  miracle,  and  Peter  makes  the  most  of 
that.  Was  it  here  that  he  learned,  what  he  after- 
ward wrote,  how  "with  well  doing  to  put  to  silence 
the  ignorance  of  foolish  men"  (I  Pet.  ii.  15)?  A 
good  deed  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  bulwark  of 
the  gospel.  And  how  is  it  that  these  very  men  who 
had  talked  so  wisely  about  the  proper  time  to  ap- 
prehend Jesus  (Mark  xiv.  2) — how  is  it  that 
they  committed  the  egregious  blunder  of  arresting 
the  apostles  so  inopportunely?  Any  other  time 
would  have  served  Annas  and  his  company  better. 
May  we  see  here  the  guidance  of  an  overruling 
power,  that  made  Peter  all  the  mightier  in  defense 
by  making  his  opponents  weak? 


SPIRITUAL  GUIDANCE  39 

But  while  the  prisoners  are  saved  from  punish- 
ment, they  meet  what  is  a  vastly  greater  trouble 
— they  are  forbidden  to  teach  or  to  preach.  They 
refuse  to  be  silent.  They  announce  their  determi- 
nation to  disobey.  The  marvel  of  the  apostles' 
stand  is  twofold.  First,  they  rebel  against  the 
authority  constituted  by  the  law  of  Moses.  The 
Sanhedrin  was  an  ancient  and  an  august  body. 
The  high-priest  was  its  head.  It  was  the  supreme 
spiritual  judicatory  in  Israel.  But,  more  than 
all,  Jesus  himself  seemed  to  admit  its  rightful  au- 
thority. He  said  to  his  disciples:  "The  scribes 
and  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses'  seat;  all  therefore  that 
they  bid  you,  that  observe  and  do,  but  do  not  ye 
after  their  works"  (Matt,  xxiii.  i,  2.)  The  very  con- 
demnation of  their  conduct  by  Jesus  is  a  testimony 
to  their  office.  Their  wrong-doing  did  not  annul 
their  title.  How  now,  in  the  face  of  their  constitu- 
tionality and  Jesus'  endorsement  of  it,  can  we  justi- 
fy Peter  and  John  in  practically  denying  it?  There 
is  but  one  way.  The  boldness,  the  interpretative 
insight,  the  courage,  the  resolution  of  this  hour 
were  the  product  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Even  Jesus' 
words,  which  sweepingly  admitted  the  regulating 
power  of  the  great  council,  are  seen  to  be  inap- 
plicable here.  Just  how  they  reconciled  them 
with  the  stand  which  they  took  against  them,  we 
cannot  tell.  But  they  did  reconcile  them,  and 
rightly  too.  Perhaps  they  said  an  institution  of 
the  law  has  no  jurisdiction   beyond  the   law,    and 


40  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

cannot  claim  it  in  the  realm  of  the  spirit.  Certain 
it  is  that  they  refused  to  obey  the  council  in  the 
matter  of  preaching  the  gospel. 

But  now  what  are  they  to  do  ?  To  go  on  with 
their  work  is  a  contempt  of  court  that  may  lead 
to  the  destruction  of  the  apostles.  They  find  their 
way  walled  up  to  heaven.  They  are  in  a  strait 
from  which  there  seems  to  be  no  human  deliver- 
ance. They  recognize  their  helplessness,  for  they 
go  to  their  own  company,  and  with  them  appeal 
to  God,  not  now  as  the  searcher  of  hearts  (i.  24,) 
not  as  a  lover  and  friend,  but  as  the  first  cause: 
"Thou,  Lord,  which  hast  made  heaven  and  earth, 
and  the  sea  and  all  that  in  them  is."  For  nothing 
but  the  same  creative  power  can  now  make  a  way 
for  them.  They  encourage  their  hearts  in  detect- 
ing that  the  situation  into  which  they  have  come 
is  precisely  like  that,  indeed,  is  that  at  which  he 
who  is  "sitting  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh"  (Ps.  ii.) 
They  recite  the  psalm  before  the  Lord:  "Why  do 
the  heathen  rage  and  the  people  imagine  a  vain 
thing;  the  kings  of  the  earth  stood  up,  and  the 
rulers  were  gathered  together  against  the  Lord  and 
against  his  Christ."  They  have  the  spiritual  per- 
ception which  shows  them  that  this  prophecy  is 
now  theirs.  They  identify  its  terms  with  a  pre- 
cision that  parallel  columns  make  apparent  at  a 
dance: 


SPIRITUAL  GUIDANCE  41 


PROPHECY. 

HISTORY. 

Kings 

Herod 

Rulers 

Pilate 

Heathen 

Gentiles 

People 

Israel. 

The  failure  to  see  that  their  own  days  were  pre- 
dicted days  was  the  ruin  of  the  Jews.  They  could 
not  read  the  signs  of  the  times.  They  unwittingly 
fulfilled  the  voices  of  their  own  prophets,  heard 
every  Sabbath  day,  by  condemning  Jesus.  The 
apostles  were  not  so  dull.  They  were  under  the 
guidance  of  him  who  gave  the  prediction,  and  by 
his  aid  they   knew   the  times  to  which  it  referred. 

But  while  this  Scripture  would  encourage  the 
early  church,  it  also  warned  it.  If  God  would 
turn  its  enemies  into  derision,  the  church  itself 
must  henceforth  pursue  its  course  against  opposi- 
tion. If  the  disciples  will  not  obey  the  council, 
they  may  expect  that  council's  hot   opposition. 

The  disciples'  prayer  is  very  pointed.  It  touches 
nothing  but  the  thing  in  hand.  They  do  not  ask 
the  Lord  that  their  enemies  and  his  may  be  given 
a  better  heart.  They  do  not  ask  that  they  them- 
selves may  be  spared  from  opposition,  from  pains 
and  penalties.  Their  only  entreaty  is  that  they 
may  be  enabled  to  do  what  they  avowed  before 
the  council  they  Would  do.  They  were  sure  that 
was  their  part,  and,  if  they  could  do  this,  all  the 
rest  could  be  left  to  God.     The   answer  comes  at 


42  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOS  TLES 

once.  It  is  significant,  and  easily  understood. 
"The  place  was  shaken  where  they  were  assembled 
together."  It  could  hardly  have  been  a  house. 
He  who  shook  the  earth  must  be  its  maker.  They 
had  cried  to  him  as  creator,  and  he  answers  in 
that  character.  His  fiat  shall  open  a  way  for  them 
to  continue  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 

And  here  we  might  expect  the  section  to  end. 
It  is  complete.  But  we  find  appended  a  second 
statement  of  the  community  of  goods.  What  pur- 
pose does  this  repetition  serve?  It  shows  that  the 
fierce  shock  of  opposition  did  not  shatter  the 
church  at  the  very  point  where  it  might  be  expect- 
ed to  break.  In  the  enthusiasm  of  their  love  just 
after  Pentecost,  when  they  had  "favor  with  all  the 
people,"  they  may  risk  to  part  with  their  goods. 
But  will  they  continue  to  abandon  their  earthly 
dependencies  in  the  face  of  persecution?  A  man 
may  part  with  his  superfluous  outer  coat  when  the 
sun  shines  warm.  But  will  he  be  equally  benevo- 
lent in  the  hour  of  the  raging  storm?  This  second 
mention  of  the  community  of  goods  supplements 
the  first.  The  church's  benevolence  was  not  fa- 
naticism. It  was  born  of  the  Spirit,  and  so  main- 
tained itself  when  trials  came.  And  the  mention 
of  it  here  shows  that  what  seemed  to  be  gold  in 
the  sunlight,  proves  also  to  be  gold  in  the  crucible. 


THE  SACREDNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH  43 


SECTION  V 

THE  SACREDNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Acts  iv.  36 — v.  16 

The  five  thousand  are  no  longer  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Great  Council.  They  are  a  compact 
body  with  "one  heart  and  one  soul."  They  have 
become  an  independent  company.  It  is  instructive 
that  they  are  net  called  the  church  until  this^  sec- 
tion is  reached.  The  word  is  spurious  in  the  last 
verse  of  the  second  chapter.  But  now,  when  they 
have  resolved  to  be  led  only  by  the  Spirit,  are  they 
for  the  first  time  given  the  worthy  title. 

This  independence  confers  a  dignity  upon  them, 
a  dignity  more  than  earthly.  If  it  was  right  for 
them  to  remove  from  Judaism,  God  had  moved  with 
them,  and  was  among  them.  All  -the  sacredness 
that  had  once  belonged  to  the  tabernacle  and  the 
temple  was  now  transferred  to  them.  They  were 
a  holy  body.  This  is  the  lesson  of  this  section,  and 
this  the  church  itself,  as  well  as  the  Jewish  mass 
around  it,  did  not  know  until  God's  judgment 
gleamed  among  them.  This  ignorance  was  not 
justifiable,  but  inevitable.  Men  are  slow  to  learn 
reverence  in  God's  presence.  Moses  does  not  put 
off  his  shoes  before  the  burning  bush  until  com- 
manded.     If  Nadab  and  Abihu   can  see   no   differ- 


44  The  acts  of  the  apostles 

ence  between  the  holy  tabernacle  and  an  Egyptian 
shrine,  the  stroke  of  sudden  death  must  teach  it. 
If  a  David  will  place  God's  ark  on  a  cart,  and  not 
carry  it  on  the  shoulders  of  men  as  the  law  pre- 
scribed (I  Chron.  xv.  13),  one  of  his  chief  men 
must  die.  The  judgment  on  Ananias  and  Sapphira 
was  of  the  same  character  and  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. God  would  teach  that  nothing  unhallowed 
can  be  admitted  in  the  service  of  his  house.  And 
the  church  was  now  his  house.  Another  reason 
made  this  judgment  inevitable  in  the  church. 
What  was  the  body  ?  Who  composed  it?  It  was 
made  up  of  the  common  people.  Common  people 
from  Galilee  were  its  leaders.  None  of  the  priests 
had  at  this  time  believed  in  Jesus.  There  were  so 
many  poor  in  the  church  that  special  provision 
had  to  be  made  on  their  account.  It  was  a  body 
without  an  acknowledged  head,  without  a  place  of 
worship  which  it  could  call  its  own,  without  wealth 
and  without  social  rank,  a  company  of  enthusiasts 
with  no  visible  reason  for  existence.  Who  in  that 
day,  or  in  any  day,  could  respect  an  assemblage 
of  such  a  character?  Who  with  less  spirituality  than 
an  apostle  possessed  could  even  dream  that  God 
dwelt  in  such  a  body?  For  society  so  constantly 
estimates  men  entirely  by  their  adventitious  cir- 
cumstances that  it  has  wholly  forgotten  that  the 
Divine  One  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  and  rates 
men  only  as  men. 

Luke  shows  plainly  how  the  lesson  of  the  sacred- 


THE  SACREDNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH  45 

ness  of  the  church  was  taught.  Among  others  who 
from  time  to  time  sold  their  possessions  and  brought 
the  entire  proceeds  to  deposit  them  at  the  apostle's 
feet,  there  was  one  Joses.  At  this  early  stage  he 
must  have  been  recognized  by  the  church  as  a 
man  of  character,  for  the  historian  lingers  over 
his  name  and  gives  interesting  notes  about  the  man. 
He  was  a  Cypriote  by  birth,  a  Jew  by  blood,  and 
of  the  priestly  tribe  of  Levi.  This  man's  benevo- 
lent act  seems  to  have  incited  Ananias  to  an  imi- 
tation of  it.  He  and  his  wife  sell  their  possession, 
but  keep  back  part  of  the  price.  They  coveted 
the  honor  which  was  bestowed  on  those  who  gave 
all,  but  in  their  love  of  money  they  would  not  pay 
the  cost  of  that  honor.  In  some  way,  we  know  not 
how,  Peter  detects  the  fraud,  and  when  Ananias 
appears  in  the  church  with  some  part  of  the  money, 
the  leading  apostle  charges  him  at  once  with  his  sin. 
The  language  of  the  accusation  is  instructive.  An- 
anias has  lied,  lied  not  to  the  church,  but  to  the 
Holy  Ghost  enshrined  in  it.  Peter  repeats  the 
charge  in  different  terms:  "Thou  hast  not  lied 
unto  men,  but  unto  God;"  in  which  there  is  an 
incidental  testimony  to  the  Deity  of  the  Third 
Person  in  the  Trinity,  for  he  who  was  first  called 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  now  called  God.  Three  hours 
later,  in  addressing  Sapphira,  Peter  again  varies 
the  phraseology,  and  declares  the  sin  committed 
was  against  the  "Spirit  of  the  Lord,"  which  may 
mean  simply  the  Christ.      God    in   his   three    per- 


40  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

sonalities  was  present  in  his  church,  and  Ananias 
and  his  wife,  in  attempting  to  deceive  men,  were 
really  insulting  God.  Peter's  language  makes  it 
very  clear  that  the  church  was  God's  dwelling- 
place,  worthy  of  the  same  reverence  that  the  tab- 
ernacle and  its  outgrowth  the  temple  once  pos- 
sessed. Hence  the  judgment  that  overwhelmed 
Nadab  and  Abihu  overtook  also  Ananias  and  Sap- 
phira.  Its  significance  is  at  once  plain  to  all.  For 
three  times  in  this  short  section  we  are  told  of  the 
awe  that  seized  both  the  church  and  the  commu- 
nity. "Of  the  rest,"  (those  outside  the  holy  as- 
semblage) "durst  no  man  join  himself  unto  them, 
but  the  people  magnified  them."  They  must  admit 
in  the  presence  of  this  double,  miraculous  judgment 
in  the  church,  that  God  was  in  it.  It  gave  the 
church  a  holy  character.  The  result  was,  and  this 
is  to  be  observed  not  only  here  but  at  the  close  of 
every  one  of  these  earlier  sections  of  the  book,  a 
marked  increase  in  power.  While  hypocrites 
feared  to  join  the  church,  believers  multiplied,  the 
reputation  of  the  church  spread  to  the  neighbor- 
ing Judean  towns,  and  Peter  gained  such  fame  that 
his  very  shadow  was  coveted. 

In  this  story  of  Ananias'  lie,  even  a  casual  read- 
ing shows  that  he  spoke  no  word.  It  does  not  ex- 
plain the  matter  to  say,  in  popular  language,  he 
acted  a  lie.  What  he  did  was  to  take  advantage 
of  a  common  understanding,  of  a  common  custom 
created  by  God's  Spirit.     Those  who  gave   to  the 


THE  S/ICREDNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH  47 

church  had  been  moved  up  to  this  time  to  give  all, 
so  that  it  had  come  to  be  considered  as  a  matter  of 
course  that  when  any  man  brought  an  offering  he 
brought  his  entire  property. 

Ananias  seizes  on  this.  He  virtually  said  to 
himself:  "I  will  take  only  a  part  of  my  money,  and 
thereby  get  the  credit  of  having  given  my  whole 
possession."  It  was  freely  conceded  that  he  was 
under  no  obligation  to  give  all  his  substance,  nor, 
indeed,  any  of  it,  but  he  must  not  lay  his  hands  on 
that  sacred  reputation  which  he  did  not  deserve. 
It  is  sadly  easy  to  set  this  sin  forth  by  modern 
illustrations.  The  common  understanding  to-day, 
at  least  in  the  church,  is  that,  when  a  man  attends 
its  worship,  and  participates  in  the  communion, 
he  is  a  good  man.  It  is  not  difficult  for  the  black- 
est hypocrisy  to  avail  itself  of  this  presumption, 
and  pose  before  God's  people  as  piety.  It  is  al- 
ways assumed,  in  America  at  least,  that  when  a 
man  preaches  to-day,  he  preaches  sermons  pre- 
pared by  himself.  This  assumption  furnishes  a 
ready  cloak  for  the  man  who  covets  a  reputation 
which  he  is  too  lazy  to  earn,  or  for  which  God,  by 
withholding  larger  endowment,  has  not  intended 
him.  Such  moral  breaches  class  the  offenders 
with  the  first  New  Testament  liars.  If  the  same 
dire  calamity  does  not  at  once  overtake  them,  that 
first  judgment  of  sudden  death  surely  measures 
the  enormity  of  every  sin  of  false  pretense  in  the 
church  and  adumbrates  the  judgment  to  come.     If 


48  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


God  now  dwells  anywhere  among  men,  his  abode 
is  in  his  church.  And  that  presence  makes  it  holy. 
The  church  is  not  a  religious  club.  It  is  not  an 
association  for  moral  culture  merely.  It  is  not  a 
mere  human  creation.  It  is  the  house  of  God, 
and  to  fail  to  honor  and  reverence  it  as  such  is  to 
be  in  danger  of  the  sin  of  Ananias  and    Sapphira. 


DIVINE  ENDORSEMENT  OF  THE  APOSTLES  49 


SECTION  VI 

THE    DIVINE     ENDORSEMENT     OF     THE    APOSTLES    AS 
AUTHORITATIVE     TEACHERS 

Acts  v.  17-42. 

This  section  is  the  sequel  of  the  last  but  one. 
It  is  logically  connected  with  the  story  of  the  first 
arrest  of  the  disciples,  and  is  complementary  of 
that  story.  When  the  disciples  were  first  brought 
before  the  council  they  refused  to  obey  its  com- 
mand, and  went  away  saying,  "We  cannot  but 
speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen  and  heard" 
(iv.  20).  They  continued  to  teach  and  to  preach, 
and  now  in  this  second  arrest  God  gives  his  unmis- 
takable approval  of  their  course.  They  receive 
direct  divine  credentials  that  they  are  heaven's 
authorized  teachers  of  its  truth. 

Such  an  approval  was  needed.  The  thoughtful 
reader  of  the  book  of  Acts  finds  comfort  and  a  cer- 
tain sense  of  confirmation  in  this  section.  It  has 
something  of  the  character  of  a  parenthesis.  Any- 
one can  see  how  easy  it  would  have  been  to  join 
verse  sixteen,  of  the  fifth  chapter  with  the  first 
verse  of  the  sixth  chapter,  and  omit  our  present 
paragraph  altogether.  The  omission  would  have 
marred  neither  the  logic  nor  the  symmetry  of  the 
Acts.      But  two  considerations  demand  and  justify 


50  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

its  presence.  First  of  all,  the  approval  of  the 
apostles'  course  in  leaving  the  council  after  their 
former  imprisonment  was  decisive,  but  it  was  not 
complete.  May  not  the  stand  which  they  then 
took  have  resulted  from  religious  obstinacy  or  ar- 
rogance? To  be  sure  when  they  prayed  for  help 
in  their  dilemma  the  place  was  shaken,  but  might 
not  the  earthquake  tremor  have  been  a  natural 
coincidence  ?  And  furthermore,  in  so  far  as  it  was 
an  attestation  of  their  course,  its  testimony  went  no 
further  than  the  bounds  of  the  church.  The  rulers 
could  not  have  been  influenced  by  it.  Indeed,  if 
the  members  of  the  Sanhedrin  felt  the  seismic 
shock  they  might  have  claimed,  if  they  had  had 
occasion  to  make  any  claim  about  it,  that  it  ap- 
proved their  course  in  condemning  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel.  But  now,  in  the  section  before  us,  the 
twelve  are  given  a  sanction  which  is  unmistakable, 
which  is  patent  to  all,  and  which  makes  it  certain 
that  the  stand  taken  by  the  apostles  was  right, 
and  that  the  earthquake  tremor  was  vastly  more 
than  a  coincidence.  It  was  the  answer  of  God  to 
the  prayer  of  the  church. 

Again,  the  reader  of  this  book  needs  a  section 
like  this  to  get  on  a  level  with  the  apostles,  and  to 
understand  them.  Without  it  we  must  look  upon 
them  as  something  more  than  mortal.  They  were 
but  men.  They  had  all  the  feelings  and  infirmi- 
ties of  men.  How  is  it  that  they  did  not  yield  to 
these?     They  had  taken  the  awful  responsibility  of 


DIVINE  ENDORSEMENT  OF  THE  APOSTLES  51 

guiding  Israel  in  matters  pertaining  to  eternal  life. 
It  is  a  position  in  which  the  stoutest  hearts  have 
trembled.  The  apostles  had  no  earthly  sanction, 
no  visible  credentials.  The  opposition  of  the  legal 
teachers  was  gathering  like  a  thunder-cloud  to  burst 
upon  their  heads.  They  needed  a  "strong  assur- 
ance." The  reader  of  the  book  feels  no  little  re- 
lief in  finding  here  that  they  receive  it.  He  knows 
now  that  though  they  are  inspired  apostles,  they 
are  also  men  like  himself,  unable  to  pursue  a  thorny 
path  very  far  alone.  They  need  help  from  time 
to  time.  Paul,  after  enduring  a  course  of  persist- 
ent persecution,  received  divine  encouragement 
(Acts  xviii.  9,  10).  John  the  Baptist  painfully  hes- 
itated in  his  testimony  (Matt,  x  .  3),  even  after  he 
saw  the  Spirit  like  a  dove  descend  upon  the  head 
of  Jesus.  The  apostles  needed  encouragement. 
It  is  helpful  to  find  just  at  this  stage  of  their  his- 
tory that  it  was  given. 

The  contents  of  the  section  are  simple.  The 
apostles  are  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison. 
The  reason  for  their  incarceration  is  not  now 
merely  because  "it  was  eventide"  (iv.  3).  In  the 
eyes  of  the  law  they  were  malefactors.  But  an 
angel  delivers  them.  When  rearrested  and  brought 
before  the  council,  the  adroit  speech  of  Gamaliel 
secures  their  release  with  nothing  worse  than  a 
beating.  The  proof  of  their  credentials  as  teach- 
ers may  be  summed  up  in  two  sentences.  First, 
God's  miraculous  care  of  them,  and,  secondly,  the 


52  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

ensuing  consciousness  of  their  own  dignity  and 
exalted  position.  As  to  the  first,  an  angel  leads 
them  out  of  the  jail  so  secretly  that  not  even  the 
guards  detected  the  escape.  The  mention  of  the 
guards  and  their  vigilance  makes  the  suspicion  of 
unlawful  jail  breaking  impossible.  The  perplexity 
of  the  council  when  at  last  they  learn  that  their 
prisoners  are  teaching  in  the  temple,  shows  that 
the  escape  transcended  any  rational  explanation. 
It  was  miraculous.  Again,  the  apostles  have  a 
command  from  the  angel  to  "speak  in  the  temple 
all  the  words  of  this  life."  Not  one  jot  was  to  be 
abated  in  deference  to  the  Sadducees,  who  were 
most  offended.  The  requirements  and  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  command  are  seen  at  once.  Their 
escape  will  soon  be  discovered,  and  if  they  preach 
at  all  it  must  be  at  once.  So  they  enter  into  the 
temple  "very  early  in  the  morning."  And  while 
the  service  in  the  temple  must  necessarily  be  brief 
yet  it  showed  the  apostles'  right  to  teach,  for 
God  commanded  it.  It  was  to  be  held,  not  in  the 
upper  room,  not  in  the  open  street,  but  in  the 
temple,  in  God's  house.  If  they  were  teachers  at 
all  they  were  teachers  in  the  very  highest  place. 
Another  point  in  God's  directing  care  is  the  unex- 
pected course  of  Gamaliel.  His  speech  in  the 
council  proved  to  be  the  apostles'  salvation.  He 
shrewdly  begins  by  hinting  that  they  may  be  such 
fanatics  as  Theudas  or  as  Judas.  In  this  case  a 
similar  end  was  inevitable.      And  now  at  the  prop- 


DIVINE  ENDORSEMENT  OF  THE  APOSTLES  53 

er  place,  (and  this  betrays  his  own  conviction)  he 
warns  the  council  that  the  apostles'  work  may 
after  all  be  from  God.  In  the  latter  case  to  op- 
pose is  perilous.  His  speech  won  the  reluctant 
consent  of  the  Sadducees,  and  the  death  which 
was  intended  was  commuted  to  the  beating  in 
which  the  apostles  gloried.  The  mention  of  the 
spirit  (v.  41)  in  which  they  took  their  chastise- 
ment shows  their  confidence  in  their   course. 

By  their  miraculous  delivery  from  prison,  and  the 
command  to  speak  in  the  temple,  the  apostles  were 
certain  to  be  self-possessed  when  brought  before 
the  council.  They  were  more.  They  use  one  word 
that  must  have  stung  their  enemies,  a  word  that 
stripped  these  enemies  of  every  official  prerogative. 
When  the  council  inquires:  "Did  we  not  straitly 
command  you  that  you  should  not  teach  in  this 
name,"  the  answer  comes  sharp  and  quick:  "We 
ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men."  Peter  may 
have  admitted  their  official  character  before.  He 
does  so  no  longer.  The  council  by  its  opposition 
to  the  Spirit  has  lost  its  credentials.  It  is  hence- 
forth only  a  conclave  of  men,  and  the  apostles  are 
the  leaders  of  Israel. 

Another  sentence  in  Peter's  speech  discloses  his 
consciousness  of  his  own  dignity,  and  that  of  his 
fellow  laborers.  After  reciting  the  simple  facts  of 
the  gospel  he  declares:  "And  we  are  his  witnesses 
of  these  things,  and  so  is  also  the  Holy  Spirit,"  a 
sentence  whose  quiet  sublimity  can   be  easier   felt 


54  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

than  described.  Peter  puts  himself  on  the  same 
plane  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  far  as  testimony  to 
the  truth  is  concerned.  He  even  mentions  him- 
self and  his  fellows  before  he  mentions  the  Spirit. 
By  the  angelic  rescue  the  apostles  have  learned 
not  only  that  their  course  pleases  God,  but  that 
they  themselves  are  at  one  with  him  in  spreading 
his  truth,  "laborers  together  with  God"  (I  Cor.  hi. 
9),  and  that  they  are  special  objects  of  his  care. 
If  they  have  no  official  place  they  have  what  is  bet- 
ter, an  official  consciousness.  And  they  plainly 
intimate  that  the  council  is  devoid  of  the  latter. 
For  they  say  of  the  Holy  Ghost  that  he  is  given 
to  "all  them  that  obey  him"  and  the  council  is  not 
obeying;  it  is  opposing.  And  so  the  apostles  go 
away  from  the  council  having  in  their  hearts  the 
Spirit's  seal  of  their  authority  as  preachers  and 
leaders, 


INTERNAL  DIFFICULTIES  SURMOUNTED  55 


SECTION  VII 

THE  CHURCH  SUPERIOR  TO  ITS  INTERNAL  DIFFI- 
CULTIES 

Acts  VI.  I-? 

The  church  has  proved  itself  able  so  far  to  over- 
come every  outward  hindrance.  It  comes  now  to 
meet  one  within  its  own  ranks.  The  trouble  is 
very  serious,  but  it  is  not  beyond  the  church's  pow- 
er to  allay  it.  The  number  of  the  disciples  was 
multiplying.  While  the  field  was  small  there  was 
room  neither  tor  accidental  nor  intentional  neg- 
lect in  the  daily  distribution  of  alms.  The  broad- 
ening area  of  the  church  gave  ample  scope  for 
both.  But  the  disturbance  was  threatening,  be- 
cause the  wrong-doing  was  not  accidental.  It  was 
planned.  How  else  can  we  account  for  the  fact 
that  alms  were  withheld  from  persons  of  one  par- 
ticular class?  The  murmuring  of  the  Grecians,  the 
foreign-born  Jews,  arose  against  their  home-born 
brethren.  We  are  wholly  in  the  dark  as  to  the 
cause  of  this  neglect.  Neither  can  we  guess  by 
what  means  the  alms  had  been  distributed  hither- 
to. Just  one  ugly  fact  stands  out — widows  were 
left  to  suffer,  and  widows  only  of  alien  birth.  A 
breach  in  the  church  was  imminent.  The  wrong- 
doing could  not  be  justified.      It  was  plainly  delib- 


56  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

erate.  But  can  it  be  removed?  Can  this  vexa- 
tious, partisan  benevolence  be  made  to  give  place 
to  an  even-handed,  impartial  charity? 

The  historian  intends  us  to  see  that  the  church 
itself  had  power  to  recover  from  the  ulcer  that 
menaced  its  life.  The  apostles  do  not  settle  the 
question  by  authority.  They  throw  the  whole 
question  back  upon  the  church,  even  though  it  is 
in  a  disturbed  and  disquieted  state.  It  is  not  only 
a  better  spirit  that  is  needed  now  in  the  body,  but 
also  a  better  organization.  Peace  will  return  when 
there  are  more  peacemakers.  The  twelve  suggest 
the  appointment  of  seven  men,  but  refuse  to  have 
anything  further  to  do  in  the  case,  except  to  con- 
firm the  church's  selection  of  its  almoners.  Their 
reason  for  this  refusal  is  that  they  may  "give  them- 
selves continually  to  prayer  and  to  the  ministry  of 
the  word."  Evidently  they  looked  upon  their  sup- 
plications and  their  preaching  as  the  highest  be- 
nevolence. To  draw  them  from  their  own  proper 
work  was  another  evil  that  the  church  trouble 
threatened.  But  they  will  not  cease  preaching, 
even  to  feed  hungry  widows.  Let  the  church  do 
its  own  work,  and  not  burden  the  ministers  of  the 
Word. 

The  men  to  be  selected  must  have  three  qualifi- 
cations: "of  honest  report,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  of  wisdom."  That  they  were  to  look  out  such 
men  clearly  implies  two  things,  that  the  church 
was  old   enough   to   have    afforded   time   for  the 


INTERNAL  DIFFICULTIES  SURMOUNTED  5? 

growth  of  individual  reputation,  and  that  such 
growth  was  not  yet  general  in  the  church.  Honest 
report,  a  good  reputation,  would  at  once  inspire 
confidence,  so  that  the  new  men  placed  over  the 
almsgiving  would  not  be  suspected  of  partiality. 
Their  rich  possession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  would 
make  them  earnest  and  energetic,  and  their  wis- 
dom would  teach  them  ways  and  means  to  execute 
their  difficult  office.  The  fitness  sought  in  the 
seven  men  was  moral  and  religious.  Social  and 
business  standing  was  not  considered. 

The  wisdom  of  the  apostles'  course  commends 
itself  to  the  church.  So  far,  at  least,  the  body  is 
a  unit  again.  The  men  are  presented,  and  the 
apostles  set  them  apart  for  their  work.  The  troub- 
le is  allayed.  We  are  given  to  understand  this  by 
the  happy  note  with  which  the  section  closes — 
"disciples  multiplied"  again,  and  "a  great  company 
of  priests  were  obedient  to  the  faith."  The  sacerdo- 
tal class  had  not  been  among  the  converts  hitherto, 
but  the  church  having  shown  itself  able  to  subdue 
its  own  internal  strife,  they  are  attracted  to  it 
along  with  many  others. 


58  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  VIII 

THE  BROADENING    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN  THE  SPHERE 
OF     ITS    WORK 

Acts  vi.  8 — ix.  4.3 

The  church  is  now  on  the  verge  of  a  crisis.  The 
appointment  of  the  seven  men  to  distribute  the 
alms  had  an  outcome  surely  not  anticipated  It 
started  the  church  on  its  mission  to  evangelize  the 
world.  Some  years  must  have  elapsed  since  the 
apostles  received  their  commission  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  whole  creation.  Pentecost  is  five  or 
six  years  in  the  past,  and  the  risen  Christ  has  not 
yet  been  preached  out  of  the  sight  of  Herod's  tem- 
ple. The  disciples  have  been  left  here  long  enough 
to  test  whether  Israel  would  repent  and  secure  the 
promise  spoken  by  Peter,  "that  he  may  send  the 
Christ  who  has  been  appointed  for  you,  Jesus"  (iii. 
19,  20,  A.  B.  U.  Ver.). 

One  little  note  in  the  last  section,  when  rightly 
heard,  gave  warning  that  the  line  of  march  to  the 
world's  limit  was  about  to  begin.  The  reader  is 
informed  that  "disciples  multiplied  in  Jerusalem 
greatly."  Why  say  in  Jerusalem?  To  intimate 
that  there  were  none  elsewhere,  but  especially 
to  show  that  the  time  had  come  to  break  the  nar- 
row bounds.  And  long  as  the  church  had  now  ex- 
isted, and  multiplied  in   numbers  as  it  was,   not  a 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  53 

single  Gentile  had  been  invited  to  cross  its  thresh- 
old. None  can  enter  yet,  but  the  door  is  about 
to  be  opened  to  them.  The  next  few  months  will 
witness  a  revolution  more  significant  than  any 
seen  before  or  since.  History  was  never  made  so 
fast.  The  barriers  of  ages  are  to  be  broken  down, 
and  the  God  of  the  Jews  is  to  be  accepted  by  the 
nations.  Our  section  gives  us  an  account  of  the 
first  long  stride  in  this  direction.  It  tells  of  the 
opposition  aroused  by  Stephen,  gives  his  speech 
before  the  council,  his  death  and  the  dreadful  per- 
secution which  followed  the  same  day,  and  scat- 
tered the  church;  the  conversion  of  the  half  hea- 
then Samaritans  and  the  Ethiopian  prince,  and 
finally  the  miraculous  calling  and  cleansing  of  an- 
other man  for  the  apostolate.  If  the  church's 
work  was  to  be  broadened  there  must  be  more  la- 
borers, and  laborers  of  broader  views.  We  get  the 
men  in  Stephen,  Philip  and  Saul.  We  see  in 
Stephen's  speech  how  Jewish  narrowness  was  giv- 
ing way,  at  least  in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  dis- 
ciples, and  a  more  liberal  view  taking  its  place. 

The  settlement  of  the  trouble  about  the  daily 
ministration  of  the  poor  fund  was  the  entering 
wedge  to  the  new  movement.  That  settlement 
certainly  brought  the  Hellenistic  Jews  to  the  front: 
rank.  The  names  of  the  seven  are  all  Greek.' 
The  last  one  in  the  list  is  a  Jew  by  religion,  but 
not  by  blood — "a  proselyte  of  Antioch."  This  lit- 
tle note  is  rich  in  meaning.      We   find   Stephen  as 


60  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

soon  as  he  enters  upon  his  office  preaching  in  the 
Hellenistic  synagogues.  Plainly  these  foreign 
Jews  with  their  more  liberal  thoughts  had  been 
suppressed.  There  must  have  been  strong  feeling, 
or  why  were  their  widows  neglected  while  the  home- 
born,  Jewish  widows  were  regularly  fed  ?  How 
could  these  foreign  Jews,  with  their  hearts  full  of 
God's  love,  forget  their  brethren  in  distant  coun- 
tries throughout  the  Roman  empire?  If  they  had 
not  acted  as  yet  they  must  have  thought  much. 
And  seven  of  them  having  been  put  into  the  front 
now,  God  soon  gave  them  an  opportunity  for  more 
extended  work.  They  set  out  with  a  few  loaves  to 
feed  their  widows.  It  was  not  long  till  they  had  to 
feed  the  world  with  the  bread  of  life. 

The  course  of  events  is  not  hard  to  trace. 
Stephen  goes  about  with  his  alms.  His  work  takes 
him  to  every  part  of  the  city,  a  work  whose  very 
beauty  and  Christ-likeness  excite  opposition  in  the 
hearts  of  the  faithless  Jews.  He  would  meet  these 
first  in  the  unbelieving  sons  or  other  relatives  of 
the  widows  to  whom  he  carried  relief.  He  would 
heal  the  sick  he  met,  and  do  other  benevolent 
wonders.  Debate  would  follow.  It  would  net 
be  long  till  some  vanquished  opponent  would 
bring  charges  against  Stephen  in  the  Grecian  syn- 
agogue to  which  he  belonged.  The  synagogue 
was  no  match  for  his  spirit  and  wisdom.  Craft  is 
summoned,  and  false  witnesses  testify  that  he 
speaks  against  the  temple   and  the  Law,  that    he 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  61 

says  Jesus  will  destroy  the  one  and  change  the 
other.  Where  is  Peter  at  this  time?  Where  are 
the  rest  of  the  twelve?  What  does  it  mean  a  lit- 
tle further  along  in  this  section  that  we  are  told 
that  all  were  scattered  abroad,  "except  the  apos- 
tles?" Why  were  these  excepted?  They  had  not 
offended.  They  had  angered  the  Sadducees,  but 
the  synagogue  and  the  people  honored  them.  The 
gospel  so  far  preached  was  rich,  clear,  saving,  but 
limited.  Peter  was  the  apostle  of  the  circumcis- 
ion, fitted  in  every  way  by  grace,  by  training,  by 
mental  characteristics,  for  Judea.  The  only  failure 
he  ever  made  after  Pentecost  was  in  the  Gentile 
city  of  Antioch  (Gal.  ii.  8-n).  He  knew  how  to 
deal  in  Jerusalem.  To  say  that  he  founded  the 
church  in  Rome  is  to  deny  the  character  both  of  the 
man  and  his  work,  and  to  make  nothing  of  the 
special  grace  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Lord. 

But  Stephen  was  sure  to  wound  the  dearest 
Jewish  prejudice.  The  charge  of  profanity  brought 
against  him  was  false.  But  he  gave  the  occasion 
for  it.  While  he  must  have  honored  the  temple 
and  revered  the  Law,  his  respect  was  not  confined 
to  them,  as  his  speech  in  his  own  defense  clearly 
shows.  In  studying  this  speech  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  it  keeps  this  charge  always  in  view, 
while  it  proves  by  their  own  history  that  the  Jews 
always  resisted  God.  Four  thoughts  stand  out 
in  this  discourse:  first,  that  God's  dealing  with  his 
people  showed  constant   progress.      The   end  was 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


not  reached  by  a  leap,  but  by  development.  In 
proof  the  story  of  Abraham  is  recited.  He  did 
not  get  into  the  promised  land  in  a  month  or  a 
year  (vii.  4).  When  he  reached  it  after  a  long 
sojourn  in  Haran  it  became  his  only  by  promise 
to  his  seed  (v.  5).  He  did  not  get  the  covenant  of 
circumcision  till  his  closing  days  (v.  8).  God's 
dealing  with  Abraham  was  progressive.  It  was  so 
with  his  seed.  When  Joseph  summons  his  breth- 
ren to  Eygpt  there  were  but  seventy-five  of  them, 
and  they  remain  few  until  the  "time  of  the  prom- 
ise" drew  near,  several  hundred  years  later  (v.  17). 
Abraham's  immediate  offspring  did  not  receive  the 
promised  land.  All  they  got  in  it  was  a  grave 
which  had  to  be  purchased  "for  a  sum  of  money 
from  the  sons  of  Emmor."  (v.  16).  When  the 
hour  of  delivery  came  the  people  were  not  ready 
for  it,  and  had  to  wait  forty  years  while  Moses 
tarried  in  the  "land  of  Midian."  The  temple  in 
which  they  boasted  was  not  an  exception.  The 
idea  of  it  was  given  in  the  tabernacle.  Not  until 
David's  day  was  a  house  proposed,  and  not  until 
his  son's  day  was  it  finally  built.  Israel  had  ex- 
isted a  long  time  without  it.  The  difference  be- 
tween Stephen  and  his  hearers  was  the  difference 
between  the  living  and  the  dead,  a  difference  often 
to  be  noted  in  the  religious  realm.  Life  means 
growth.  Death  is  inability  to  go  on.  The  Jew 
would  not  move.  It  seemed  to  him  that  the  end 
of  all  things  was  reached  in  the  temple,  and  in  the 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  03 

Law.  When  the  Messiah  came  he  was  expected 
to  do  no  more  than  to  deliver  from  political  disa- 
bilities, and  complete  that  which  was.  Crystalliza- 
tion had  ensued.  Stephen  showed  how  God  con- 
tinually advanced  from  one  stage  to  another.  The 
last  stage  was  not  reached  in  Judaism.  God  was 
leading  on,  Stephen  was  following,  and  the  Jews,  as 
usual,  resisting  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Stephen's  second  thought  is  that  the  temple  is 
not  exclusively  holy.  This  stands  out  so  clear 
that  his  hearers  could  not  fail  to  get  it.  God  ap- 
peared to  Abraham  in  a  heathen  land,  in  Meso- 
potamia, even  before  he  came  to  Charan  (v.  2). 
Abraham's  seed  was  to  sojourn  in  a  strange  land 
(v.  6).  Joseph  had  his  whole  glorious  career  in 
Egypt.  His  father  found  a  famine  in  the  holy  land, 
and  had  to  go  down  to  the  heathen  land  where  he 
passed  his  last  days.  In  that  same  land  their 
great  leader  was  born  exceeding  fair,  and  was  ed- 
ucated there  (v.  22).  In  another  heathen  land 
this  Moses  found  God.  His  signs  and  wonders 
were  done  in  Egypt,  and  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  in 
the  wilderness  (v.  36).  The  angel  was  with  him 
in  the  wilderness.  The  lively  oracles  were  re- 
ceived there  (v.  38).  The  fathers  had  the  taber- 
nacle of  witness,  the  germ  of  the  temple,  in  the 
wilderness.  Of  all  the  good  things  to  which  Ste- 
phen points,  Israel  did  not  possess  one  apart  from 
a  heathen  land,  except  the  temple,  and  of  that  he 
says  it  was  expressly   declared   that   God   was   not 


64  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


confined  to  it  (vs.  48-50).  What  was  the  lesson? 
Where  God  is  there  is  his  sanctuary.  He  said  to 
Moses  in  the  land  of  Midian:  "The  place  where 
thou  standest  is  holy  ground."  If  God  was  with 
the  church  in  Jerusalem,  that  church  was  holy. 
But  Stephen's  speech  looks  further.  If  God  goes 
to  the  Gentiles  now  that  will  make  them  accepta- 
ble. By  look  and  gesture  and  emphasis  Stephen 
would  not  fail  of  being  understood.  They  would 
get  the  divine  lesson  which  he  had  gathered  for 
them  in  the  inspired  history.  But  here,  too,  they 
were  resisting  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  third  thought  which  Stephen  presents  is 
somewhat  complex,  but  yet  very  clear.  Israel,  as 
the  martyr's  historical  citations  disclose,  invariably 
opposed  God  in  his  first  offer  of  mercy,  rejected 
the  deliverer  sent,  suffered  awhile  in  consequence, 
and  then  accepted  that  very  deliverer  afterward. 
Each  stage  in  the  chosen  people's  course  has  a 
dual  phase.*  Abraham  did  not  reach  Canaan  by  an 
unbroken  journey.  He  stopped  in  Charan,  and 
did  not  go  on  till  he  suffered  the  loss  of  his  father. 
The  second  effort  brought  him  to  the  promised 
land.  Joseph,  the  well-beloved  son,  was  sent  to 
his  brethren  with  their  father's  love.  They  mal- 
treated him,  but  on  their  next  contact  with  him 
they  find  him  their  deliverer.  In  this  case  we  have 
the  duality  repeated.  The  first  time  the  brethren 
went  for  corn  they  did  not  recognize  their  benefac- 
tor.     But  "at  the  second  time  Joseph   was   made 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  65 

known  to  his  brethren"  (v.  13).  The  hour  and  the 
occasion  made  it  easy  for  Stephen  to  press  home 
on  his  hearers  in  all  its  significance  the  simple 
story  of  Joseph's  rejection.  Had  his  auditors  not 
rejected  Jesus,  a  beloved  son  sent  to  his  brethren 
in  love?  "He  came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  re- 
ceived him  not."  The  history  of  Moses  is  the  same. 
He  left  the  court  of  Pharaoh  to  visit  his  brethren  in 
their  bondage,  "for  he  supposed  they  would  have 
understood  how  that  God  by  his  hand  would  deliver 
them,  but  they  understood  not"  (v.  25).  And  so 
they  suffered  forty  years  longer,  until  Moses  was 
sent  a  second  time  (vs.  30-34).  After  the  delivery 
the  promised  land  is  not  reached  until  a  second 
leader,  with  the  same  purpose  as  the  first,  is  given 
to  them.  Though  Moses  was  with  the  angel  in 
Mount  Sinai  the  people  deserted  his  guidance, 
turned  back  in  their  hearts  to  Eygpt,  wallowed  in 
idolatrous  sin  and  suffering  for  forty  years  in  the 
wilderness  until  Joshua  led  them  into  their  posses- 
sion (v.  45).  And  even  in  the  building  of  the 
temple  this  duality  is  not  forgotten.  David  de- 
sired to  build  the  house,  but  Solomon  accomplished 
it.  In  two  of  the  cases  cited  another  feature  is 
added.  Though  Joseph's  brethren  for  envy  sold 
him  into  Egypt,  "God  was  with  him"  (v.  9)  and  he 
was  marvelously  prospered  among  the  heathen. 
The  same  was  true  of  Moses,  as  is  shown  in  the 
quiet  little  phrase  that  while  in  the  land  cf  Midian 
"he   begat   two   sons"  (v.  29).      The   family   given 


66  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

him  was  a  token  of  God's  favor.  In  speaking 
(vs.  35-37)  of  the  rejection  of  Moses  by  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  and  his  subsequent  deliverance  of 
them  from  bondage,  Stephen's  eloquence  has  a 
vehemence,  a  grandeur,  lost,  to  be  sure,  in  our 
translation,  which  must  have  been  awe-inspiring 
in  the  heart  of  any  candid  hearer. 

The  lesson  in  all  this  is  evident  enough.  Were 
the  Jews  now,  by  their  opposition  to  the  gospel, 
once  more  about  to  reject  the  deliverer  sent  to 
them,  to  have  him  depart  and  prosper  among  the 
Gentiles  while  Israel  meanwhile  suffered  until  God 
should  be  pleased  to  send  him  a  second  time? 
"And  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  of  the 
Gentiles  until  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled" 
(Luke  xxi.  24)  "And  ye  shall  not  see  me  henceforth 
till  ye  shall  say,  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord"  (Matt,  xxiii.  39).  Stephen 
clearly  saw  the  doom  threatening  his  countrymen, 
and  that  their  despised  Lord  was  on  the  eve  of 
seeking  his  glory  among  the  nations  that  the 
Jew  hated. 

The  fourth  point  in  the  address  is  seen  at  a 
glance,  and  can  be  dispatched  with  a  word.  If 
the  prisoner  is  accused  of  disloyalty  to  Moses,  he 
shows  the  falsity  of  the  charge  by  his  constant 
reference  to  the  Law,  whose  writer  he  quotes  as  a 
prophet  of  Jesus.  It  was  not  he,  it  was  his  hear- 
ers who  were  law  breakers.  In  a  burst  of  impas- 
sioned words  he  charges  the  nation  with   its  long- 


The  broadening  of  the  church  67 

continued  crime,  its  murder  of  the  Just  One,  and 
its  outrage  of  the  angel-given  code.  This  is  the 
end.  By  stoning  the  speaker  they  add  one  more 
bloody  proof  to  their  wickedness,  which  was  so 
plainly  portrayed,  while  Stephen,  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Master  whom  he  sees,  prays  for  his  tormentors. 
The  rejection  of  Jesus  is  completed  in  the  person 
of  his  first  martyr,  and  now  soon  we  must  follow 
his  church  elsewhere.  The  beginning  of  Jerusa- 
lem's end  has  come. 

But  the  city  was  not  unanimous  in  its  sentiment 
of  persecution.  Devout  men,  Jews  and  not  be- 
lievers, gave  Stephen  an  honorable  burial,  and 
sincerely  lamented  his  fall.  But  another  party 
directed  its  hate  against  the  church.  Apparently 
the  executioners  of  Stephen  rushed  back  to  the 
city  as  soon  as  he  was  dead,  and  assailed  the 
church.  In  the  flight  of  the  believers  we  are  told 
they  went  at  first  no  further  than  Judea  and  Sa- 
maria (viii.  i).  But  a  new  thing  occurs  now. 
Hitherto  the  gospel  seems  to  have  been  preached 
only  by  the  twelve.  Now  the  scattered  church 
goes  "everywhere  preaching  the  word."  The  dis- 
semination of  the  truth  is  no  longer  an  exclusively 
apostolic  function.  When  the  field  was  enlarged 
the  laborers  were  multiplied.  We  are  not  to  sup- 
pose that  these  scattered  believers  declared  the 
truth  at  first  in  any  set  form.  The  circumstances 
into  which  they  were  thrown  by  the  persecution, 
would  inevitably  make  them  tell  the  story  of  love. 


68  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

As  they  sought  shelter  in  the  villages  and  towns 
of  Judea  they  must  explain  how  they  came  to  be 
there,  why  they  had  left  Jerusalem  and  were  now 
wanderers.  This  would  soon  bring  to  the  surface 
the  latent  talent  in  the  dispersed  church,  and  more 
formal  preaching  would  ensue.  We  hear  of  this 
later  on.  (Acts  xv.  35).  The  historian  tells  how 
a  city  of  Samaria  was  evangelized,  The  leader 
was  Philip,  not  one  of  the  apostles,  for  they  were 
not  scattered,  but  one  of  the  seven,  the  second  one 
mentioned  in  the  catalogue  of  their  names  (vi.  5). 
The  first  one  had  precipitated  the  broader  work 
by  going  into  the  Hellenistic  synagogues  in  Jeru- 
salem. The  second  one  carries  it  on  beyond  the 
city's  walls.  We  certainly  now  have  a  distinct 
step  forward,  for  while  the  apostles  remained  be- 
hind in  Jerusalem,  we  are  given  to  understand  that 
the  gospel  was  successfully  preached  by  others. 

God's  purposes  and  God's  plans  are  very  far- 
reaching.  We  see  now  why  the  Samaritans  were 
raised  up  more  than  six  hundred  years  before, 
and  why  they  had  been  preserved  in  their  half  and 
half  character  for  centuries.  They,  were  neither 
Jews  nor  Gentiles.  They  were  midway  between 
these  distant  moral  extremes.  Jesus  in  his  minis- 
try never  went  distinctly  among  the  heathen,  said 
he  was  commissioned  only  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel  (Matt.  xv.  24),  but  he  honored 
these  Samaritans  (Jno.  iv).  And  now  God  uses 
them  as  a  sort  of  half-way  house  from   those  in  the 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  69 

covenant  to  those  who  were  outside  of  it.  They 
were  the  ladder  without  which  even  the  believing 
Jew,  hampered  as  he  was  by  his  scruples,  could  not 
have  got  down  to  the  uncircumcised  Gentile.  The 
leap  was  too  great.  The  gulf  between  the  two 
extremes  was  social,  religious,  political — and  the 
Samaritan  bridged  it.  God  plainly  intended  him 
for  this  from  the  first. 

Since  we  have  now  a  new  work  with  new  labor- 
ers, we  have  the  Pentecost  features  repeated. 
Miracles  attended  the  preaching  (viii.  6).  Bap- 
tism is  mentioned,  and  believers  came  in  great 
numbers.  Indeed,  we  are  evidently  given  to  un- 
derstand that  as  the  gospel  spread  the  divine  power 
attending  it  was  intensified,  for  here  many  unclean 
spirits  were  cast  out,  and  the  paralytics  were  re- 
stored. Peter,  to  be  sure,  wrought  great  signs  at 
the  beginning  of  his  work,  but  none  of  this  lofty 
character.  Thousands  had  been  converted  in 
Jerusalem,  but  many  thousands  more  rejected  the 
gospel,  while  here  the  people  with  "one  accord" 
gave  heed,  and  "great  joy"  possessed  the  whole 
town. 

Two  other  features  in  this  Samaritan  revival  are 
plainly  presented  for  our  attention.  Simon  the 
magician  occupies  considerable  space  in  the  story. 
It  will  be  recollected  that  we  have  two  other  sim- 
ilar stories  in  this  book,  in  similar  circumstances, 
the  case  of  Elymas  (xiii.  8),  and  that  of  the  maiden 
with  the    spirit   of    divination    (xvi.    16).      They 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


stand  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  work,  and  show 
what  the  gospel  had  to  encounter  and  overcome 
in  that  beginning.  The  gospel  had  not  triumphed 
over  the  high  priest  in  Jerusalem,  but  it  mastered 
the  self-appointed  high  priest  of  this  Samaritan  city. 
He  who  had  bewitched  the  people  is  now  left  a 
selfish  suppliant  at  the  feet  of  the  apostles,  en- 
treating that  the  woes  which  he  deserves  may  not 
come  upon  him.  He  and  his  money  have  lost 
their  spell. 

The  other  feature  is  that  while  Philip  could  lead 
the  people  to  Christ  and  baptize  them,  he  could 
not  confer  the  Holy  Ghost.  Peter  and  John  came 
down  from  Jerusalem  to  do  this.  Here  three 
things  are  implied:  first,  that  the  diffusion  of  the 
gospel  was  not  to  sever  it.  Jerusalem  was  not  over 
Samaria,  but  Samaria  could  not  be  independent 
of  Jerusalem.  The  apostolic  office  must  be  recog- 
nized and  honored.  Again,  by  the  presence  of 
these  leading  apostles  and  the  conferring  of  the 
miraculous  elements  attending  the  Spirit's  pres- 
ence, the  new  work  was  fully  accredited  as  genuine. 
The  third  implication  is  subtile:  if  the  Samaritans 
can  believe  and  rejoice  in  that  belief  for  sometime 
without  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  outward 
manifestations  (vs.  16,  17),  and  if  he  cannot  be  so 
given  except  by  the  imposition  of  an  apostle's 
hands,  is  it  not  plain  that  the  time  has  begun  when 
he  will  no  longer  be  present  in  his  extraordinary 
displays?     The  twelve  could  not  go  the  world  over 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  71 

to  lay  hands  on  millions.  There  is  no  hint  that 
the  Romans  had  this  particular  gift.  The  same  is 
true  of  other  churches.  The  gift,  as  this  Samaritan 
account  shows,  was  not  intended  to  be  universal, 
nor  permanent.  Men  could  accept  and  serve  Christ 
without  it.  It  was  a  sign  only  while  signs  were 
needed  (I  Cor.  xiv.  22). 

The  beautiful  record  of  the  Eunuch's  conversion 
is  given  next.  Its  intent  is  the  same,  to  show  how 
the  work  was  broadening.  The  first  thing  noted 
in  the  story  is  that  the  Lord  specifically  directed 
Philip  to  this  man.  The  evangelist  set  out  like 
Abraham  of  old,  hardly  knowing  whither  he  went, 
and  surely  not  why.  As  he  pursues  his  journey  of 
faith,  he  espies  the  state  chariot  of  the  Ethiopian 
officer.  The  Spirit  directs  him  to  join  himself  to 
this  chariot.  Philip  by  his  shrewd  question  put 
to  the  rider  gains  a  seat  alongside  of  him.  Philip 
had  certainly  gone  to  the  Samaritans  under  the 
influence  of  the  Spirit.  But  we  are  not  told  so. 
That  so  much  is  made  of  the  divine  guidance  in  the 
case  before  us,  is  intended  to  show  that  God's 
plans  were  now  reaching  afar.  Here  was  a  man 
from  a  distant  region.  Ethiopia  was  stretching 
out  her  hands.  Must  not  Philip  reflect,  when  his 
ministry  with  this  African  was  at  an  end,  that  not 
only  were  the  Samaritans  to  hear  the  gospel  and 
believe,  but  the  ends  of  the  earth  also?  The  relig- 
ious status  of  the  Eunuch  is  not  given.  We  do  not 
know  whether  he  was  a  Jew,  a  heathen,  or  a  prose- 


72  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

lyte.  Since  he  was  present  at  Jerusalem  to  wor- 
ship, and  was  reading  God's  word,  we  may  pre- 
sume he  was  the  latter.  But  this  need  not  be  dis- 
cussed, for  it  is  not  the  point.  The  story — and 
the  Bible  for  that  matter — is  understood  by  at- 
tending to  what  it  discloses,  and  by  not  spending 
time  on  what  is  purposely  left  obscure.  The 
distant  country  and  the  rank  of  Philip's  hearer  are 
certain.  He  was  a  representative  of  a  far-off  land, 
whom  God  had  chosen  to  hear  the  gospel  message, 
and  Philip  could  not  fail  to  get  the  lesson.  The 
gospel  was  intended  for  all  the  world. 

We  are  clearly  informed  of  the  Eunuch's  occu- 
pation at  the  time  he  is  met.  He  was  reading 
one  of  the  clearest  testimonies  to  the  Messiah  in 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  And  he  could  make 
nothing  out  of  it.  Philip  would,  of  course,  be  en- 
couraged to  draw  near  when  he  found  the  prince 
thus  engaged.  But  this  could  not  account  for  the 
insertion  here  of  the  passage  read.  The  reader 
was  intent  and  earnest,  and  if  such  a  man,  with  the 
Bible  before  his  eyes,  could  not  find  the  truth,  how 
indispensable  was  the  evangelist.  This  necessity 
would  make  itself  plain  to  Philip  as  another  lesson 
of  the  hour.  It  is  just  because  the  Eunuch  needed 
the  preacher  rather  than  the  preaching,  that  Phil- 
ip's sermon  is  not  put  on  record.  The  sermon 
was  really  in  the  text  before  the  inquirer's  eyes, 
but  he  must  have  a  guide  to  see  it.  Hence  we  are 
told  that  he   "began   at  the    same   Scripture    and 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  73 

preached  unto  him  Jesus."  The  world  then  is  to 
have  the  gospel,  but  it  must  get  it  from  the 
preachers.  For  even  with  the  -Bible  in  his  hand 
so  intelligent  a  man  as  the  Eunuch  did  not  see 
the  truth  until  the  evangelist  pointed  it  out. 

A  third  fact  made  prominent  in  the  story  of  the 
Eunuch  is  his  baptism.  It  is  a  little  strange  that 
this  is  the  first  time  in  this  book,  and  for  that  mat- 
ter the  first  time  in  the  New  Testament,  that  the 
ordinance  is  described.  Even  with  the  thirty -sev- 
enth verse  omitted  as  spurious,  the  act  is  set  forth  as 
in  a  picture.  The  chariot  stood  still,  and  "they  went 
down  both  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  Eu- 
nuch, and  he  baptized  him,  and  .  .  .  they  came  up 
out  of  the  water."  Note  upon  what  the  emphasis 
is  laid  in  this  sentence.  Its  dual  subject  is  men- 
tioned four  times— "they,"  "both,"  "both,"  "Philip 
and  the  Eunuch" — which  is  a  fair  representation  of 
Luke's  Greek.  It  is  to  be  observed,  too,  that  it 
was  the  Eunuch  himself  that  proposed  the  baptism. 
And  where  did  he  learn  its  requirement  ?  Philip 
had  preached  unto  him  Jesus,  from  a  passage  which 
predicted  his  death — "his  life  was  taken  away  from 
the  earth"  (Rom.  vi.  4).  Now,  with  the  facts  fairly 
before  us  they  seem  to  present  two  things:  first, 
that  the  Eunuch's  evangelization  completed  itself 
in  his  baptism.  He  proposed  it  himself  as  the  ap- 
pointed expression  of  his  belief  in  what  Philip  had 
preached  to  him.  The  interpolated  thirty-seventh 
verse,  which  makes   the  Eunuch   say   "I   believe," 


74  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

is  an  impertinence.  The  baptism,  or  rather  the 
proposal  which  culminated  in  the  baptism,  was  the 
declaration  of  belief.  Again,  the  baptism  shows 
the  completion  and  the  success  of  Philip's  mission 
to  the  Eunuch,  so  that  it  is  immediately  added: 
"The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  caught  away  Philip,  that 
the  Eunuch  saw  him  no  more."  .  The  evangelist 
must  stay  until  both  come  from  the  waters 
of  baptism,  but  he  need  not  stay  a  moment 
longer.  This  ordinance  then,  so  minutely  de- 
scribed here  for  the  first  time,  in  a  place  that 
looks  with  both  eyes  into  the  Gentile  world,  shows 
how  that  world  is  to  be  pledged  to  Christ.  It  sets 
out  the  missionary's  duty.  He  must  preach  Jesus 
and  baptize  such  as  believe  in  him. 

The  history  of  Saul's  conversion  follows.  For 
the  great  work  which  is  soon  to  begin  there  must 
be  a  fit  and  effective  instrument.  Saul  has  done 
his  cruel  work  well  in  Jerusalem.  But  let  him 
stay  there  if  he  wishes  to  continue  it.  The  Lord 
will  not  interfere  in  the  city  that  was  soon  to  lose 
its  place  as  center.  But  when  Saul  ventures  abroad 
to  check  the  work  in  the  regions  where  the  Lord 
has  now  sent  it,  the  divine  interference  is  imme- 
diate and  direct.  It  was  not  without  reason  that 
Saul  was  arrested  when  on  a  journey  to  Damascus. 
In  the  voice  that  he  hears  twice:  "I  am  Jesus 
whom  thou  persecutest,"  he  learns  the  soul  of  his 
offending,  and  we  get  the  key  to  his  subsequent 
life  and  teaching,  that  Jesus  is  one  with  his  follow- 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH 


ers.  The  proud  persecutor  goes  humbly  enough 
into  Damascus.  He  must  be  led  by  the  hand. 
In  his  three  sightless  days  of  fasting,  he  must  have 
suffered,  and  he  must  have  thought  what  no  heart 
and  brain  but  his  could  have  endured.  As  the 
three  days  and  nights  in  the  tomb  gave  the  world 
a  Saviour,  so  these  three  days  and  nights  gave  the 
world  its  greatest  preacher  of  that  salvation.  What 
questions  Saul  had  to  settle  in  this  time!  But 
what  they  were  we  are  not  told,  and  can  only  im- 
agine. 

Ananias  is  sent  to  Saul.  The  Lord  always  hon- 
ors the  means  of  salvation  that  he  has  estab- 
lished, and  he  does  not  himself  invade  their  func- 
tion. The  story  of  the  mission  of  Ananias  to 
Saul  is  not  unlike  that  of  Philip  to  the  Eunuch. 
Only  there  the  man  in  the  dark  was  reading  and 
needed  help,  but  in  this  case  he  is  praying.  Philip 
went  willingly,  Ananias  hesitatingly.  In  both 
cases  the  Lord  sent  a  minister  to  guide.  The  hes- 
itation of  Ananias  shows  how  unexpected  the  con- 
version of  Saul  was,  and  how  marvelous.  The  de- 
vout Ananias  could  not  believe  it.  In  the  per- 
emptory command  for  him  to  go  there  is  given  a 
reason  which  is  in  harmony  with  this  whole  sec- 
tion: Saul  is  a  chosen  vessel  to  bear  the  Lord's 
name  "before  the  Gentiles  and  kings,  and  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel."  The  work  so  long  delayed  among 
the  Jews  is  now  to  extend  to  the  nations,  for  the 
man  is   selected   and   designated  to    effect  it.      He 


76  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

is  a  Hellenist.  He  is  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  heathen.  He  is  fitted  by  his  education  and 
temperament  for  it,  and  it  is  virtually  said  to  be 
about  to  begin.  For  in  predicting  Saul's  work,  the 
Gentiles  and  kings,  who  were,  of  course,  also  hea- 
then, are  mentioned  before  Israel  (ix.  15.)  That  he 
always  spoke  first  to  Israel  when  he  went  abroad 
on  his  missionary  tours,  does  not  lie  against  the 
statement  before  us.  It  is  the  aim  of  his  ministry 
that  is  here  defined,  and  not  its  order.  That  he 
was  a  chosen  vessel  is  to  be  proved  by  what  the 
Lord  himself  will  call  on  him  to  endure.  To  be 
honored  with  much  service  for  God  always  involves 
the  additional  honor'of  much  suffering  (Mark  x.  38.) 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  how  startling  was  the 
statement  made  to  Ananias  that  Saul  was  to  carry 
the  Lord's  name  to  the  Gentiles.  It  would  perplex 
him.  It  was  made  for  his  benefit,  and 'was  not 
communicated  at  this  time  to  Saul,  who  apparently 
did  not  learn  what  his  field  was  until  some  years 
later  (Acts  xxii.  17-22.)  Everything  connected 
with  Saul  surprised  Ananias.  In  some  way  he  had 
learned  of  the  persecutor's  visit  to  Damascus,  and 
of  its  cruel  intent,  and  so,  when  ordered  to  go  to 
him,  he  protests:  "Lord,  I  have  heard  by  many  of 
this  man  how  much  evil  he  hath  done."  Saul  was 
notorious.  His  every  movement  must  have  been 
watched  by  the  saints.  And  the  surprise  and  re- 
luctance of  Ananias  show  how  far  the  Lord's  lead- 
ing here  was  ahead  of  the  best  man's  expectation. 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  77 

Saul  was  not  the  development  of  his  times.  He 
was  one  born  out  of  time,  and  the  times  were  pre- 
pared for  him  or  in  process  of  preparation. 

Ananias  visits  Saul.  He  tenderly  addresses 
him,  and  in  the  end  baptizes  him,  after  which, 
all  questions  being  now  settled,  and  Saul  convert- 
ed to  the  Lord,  the  long  fast  is  broken,  and  the 
young  saint  takes  food.  One  feature  in  the  inter- 
view is  peculiar.  Saul  receives  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  not  at  the  hands  of  an  apostle,  but  at  the 
hands  of  Ananias,  of  whom  there  is  no  record  of 
any  official  rank.  "The  Lord  hath  sent  me  that 
thou  mightest  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,"  says 
Ananias.  The  instance  is  solitary  in  the  New 
Testament.  Its  object  is  plain.  Saul's  ministry 
was  in  no  wise  to  be  dependent  upon  that  of  his 
fellow  apostles,  the  twelve.  He  was  not  to  be  be- 
holden to  them  for  so  striking  a  gift  as  the  Holy 
Ghost.  They  might  lay  their  hands  on  the  Samari- 
tans, but  not  on  him,  specially  chosen  by  the 
Lord.  And  furthermore,  this  single  instance  shows 
that  the  power  to  impart  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spir- 
it did  not  inhere  in  an  office,  but  pertained  to  the 
Lord  himself,  who  might  designate  anyone  to  lay 
on  hands. 

Saul,  unlike  any  n£w  convert  hitherto,  preaches 
immediately,  and  effectively.  His  theme  is  differ- 
ent from  that  which  was  presented  before.  The 
proposition  which  Peter  labored  to  establish  was 
that  Jesus  was  the   Messiah,     Saul's   topic  is  that 


78  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  (ix.  20).  His  preaching 
astonishes  every  one,  which  still  goes  to  show  that 
God's  hand  was  in  it  directly.  Such  a  change  in 
such  a  man  could  not  be  explained  by  anything 
known  to  men.  His  sufferings  begin  early,  but 
not  immediately.  Luke,  in  his  phrase  "after  that 
many  days  were  fulfilled,"  furnishes  a  place  for  the 
three  years'  visit  to  Arabia,  and  the  return  to  Da- 
mascus (Gal.  i.  17,  18).  We  need  not  raise  the 
question  whether  Luke  knew  of  this  visit  or  not. 
It  was  on  Saul's  return  from  Arabia  that  Damascus 
was  ready  to  destroy  him.  He  goes  to  Jerusalem 
and  has  a  cool  reception  (v.  26).  Barnabas  ac- 
credits him  to  the  apostles,  and  shows  how  fully 
he  is  committed  to  the  Lord  Jesus  in  that  he  had 
preached  in  his  name.  An  impostor,  a  feigned 
disciple  could  not  do  this,  for  from  the  Jew's 
point  of  view  it  was  blasphemy,  and  would  con- 
demn even  a  pretender.  In  Jerusalem  Saul  speed- 
ily finds  his  way  to  his  compatriots,  the  Grecians. 
But  they  who  had  stoned  a  Stephen  would  surely 
not  keep  their  hands  off  of  one  whom  they  must 
regard  a  religious  traitor.  "They  went  about  to 
slay  him."  There  was  no  place  for  him  in  Judaism, 
even  among  the  apostles,  and  hence,  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  whole  story,  we  find  him  sent  to 
the  heathen  cities  Csesarea  and  Tarsus,  where  for 
years  he  was  "unknown  by  face  unto  the  churches 
in  Judea"  (Gal.  i.  22).  God  designed  him  for  the 
Gentiles,  and   while   Peter  can   find   tolerance    in 


THE  BROADENING  OF  THE  CHURCH  70 

Jerusalem,  everything  about  Saul  is  so  ordered 
that  his  very  life  is  in  danger,  except  in  heathen- 
dom. The  divine  intent  for  him  so  shaped  his 
course  that  that  intent  was  necessarily  realized 
(I  Cor.   ix.  1 6,  17). 

The  section  closes  with  an  account  of  two  stu- 
pendous miracles  (ix.  32-43.)  Why  are  they  re- 
corded here?  And  why  were  there  none  of  this 
magnitude  before?  The  palsy,  semi-death,  is  van- 
quished and  a  corpse  is  re-tenanted  by  the  departed 
soul.  The  answer  suggests  itself.  The  "greater 
works"  that  the  apostles  had  been  promised 
(John  xiv.  12)  were  not  given  earlier  because  they 
had  not  earlier  set  about  carrying  out  the  Lord's 
command  to  preach  everywhere.  They  were  im- 
possible while  the  gospel  was  confined  to  Jerusa- 
lem. The  paragraph  here  has  a  significant  be- 
ginning, easily  overlooked — "And  it  came  to  pass 
as  Peter  passed  throughout  all  quarters."  These 
great  works  were  the  outcome  of  a  ministry  at 
large.  And  they  are  recorded  to  show  that  the 
gospel  had  not  lost  any  of  its  power  in  going 
abroad.  It  had  increased  that  power.  Indeed  the 
record  shows  a  deeper,  sweeter  feature.  The  faith 
of  the  saints  had  increased,  for  it  is  they  who  on 
Dorcas'  death  send  for  Peter,  to  do  the  unheard-of 
thing  of  restoring  her    to  life. 

And  thus  the  section  closes.  The  gospel  has 
spread,  spread  with  a  flow  that  promises  to  go 
much  further  than  Judea,    new   laborers   are  pre- 


80  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

pared,  and  God's  hand,  which  has  been  manifest  in 
the  widening  movement  all  along,  is  most  power- 
fully manifest  at  the  close.  The  dead  are  restored 
to  life. 


PREPARATION  FOR  ADMISSION  OF  GENTILES        81 


SECTION  IX 

PREPARATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  FOR  THE  ADMISSION 
OF  THE  GENTILES 

ids  X.    I Xt.  1 8 

The  idea  which  runs  through  this  section  from 
beginning  to  end  is  preparation.  Luke  intends  to 
show  how  all  become  fitted  for  the  reception  of 
the  uncircuincised  within  the  gospel  fold.  Corne- 
lius and  Peter  were  instructed  about  the  same  time, 
each  by  an  appropriate  vision.  Peter  and  the  six 
brethren  who  went  with  him  to  the  house  of  Cor- 
nelius had  every  lingering  doubt  of  God's  will 
driven  from  their  heart  by  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  conferred  upon  the  Gentiles.  And  now  he 
and  the  brethren  who  accompanied  him  qualify 
the  churches  in  Judea  and  Jerusalem  by  informing 
them  of  what  God  did,  so  that  Jerusalem  heartily 
exclaims:  "Then  hath  God  also  to  the  Gentiles 
granted  repentance  unto  life."  (xi.  18).  Before 
we  look  at  the  story  several  questions  confront  us. 
Why  must  Jerusalem  and  Judea  have  such  over- 
whelming proof  of  the  Lord's  purpose  to  save  the 
Gentiles?  Has  not  Samaria  been  gladly  wel- 
comed among  the  Jewish  believers?  Has  not  the 
Eunuch  been  baptized?  Has  not  Saul  been  con- 
verted that  he  may  be  sent  to  the  Gentiles?      But 


TH£  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLgS 


the  gulf  between  the  Jews  and  the  heathen  was 
much  wider  and  deeper  than  that  between  the 
Jews  and  the  Samaritans.  Judea  had,  to  some 
extent,  accepted  Christ,  but  it  had  not  rejected 
Moses,  who  forbade  social  and  religious  intercourse 
with  the  heathen.  The  separation  was  complete. 
It  was  not  a  matter  of  a  day,  but  of  centuries. 
It  was  worse  than  Hindu  caste.  The  chasm  be- 
tween the  blacks  and  the  whites  in  this  country  is 
as  nothing  compared  with  that  between  Jew  and 
Greek.  The  touch  of  the  latter  was  defiling,  his 
food  was  an  abomination  to  the  devout  Israelite, 
and  his  religion  blasphemy.  How  could  the  black 
man  and  the  white  man  be  made  one  to-day  so 
that  they  might  sit  at  the  same  table,  so  that  their 
sons  and  daughters  might  intermarry,  and  so  that 
both  might  drink  from  the  same  communion  cup 
at  the  Lord's  table?  But  he  who  should  propose 
this  in  our  time  would  have  an  easy  task  compared 
with  the  awful  problem  which  confronted  Peter. 
He  knew  that  the  Gentile  was  to  be  saved.  The 
Old  Testament  declared  it  on  every  page.  The 
Lord  Jesus  confirmed  it.  But  how  should  it  be  ac- 
complished? It  was  accomplished.  The  preju- 
dices and  convictions  of  ages  gave  way.  The  Jew 
had  to  haul  down  his  banner  before  the  Gentile, 
and  admit  him  to  the  church  as  a  brother.  And 
he  who  knows  what  human  nature  is  must  admit 
that  no  earthly  power  couid  have  solved  the  prob- 
lem in  a  single  generation.      Only  God  could.   The 


PREPARATION  FOR  ADMISSION  OF  GENTILES       83 

revolution  was  bloodless,  but  history  cannot  point 
to  a  greater,  wrought  even  by  arms.  It  is  little 
less  marvelous  than  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

But  why  should  Cornelius  be  prepared  by  a  vis- 
ion for  the  change  just  at  hand?  Because,  know- 
ing Judaism  as  he  did,  how  could  he  without  divine 
guidance  hope  to  enter  its  portals?  If  he  had  ever 
thought  of  such  a  boon,  he  must  have  looked  with 
despair  at  the  lofty  walls  that  surrounded  the  sa- 
cred temple.  But  God  comes  to  him.  He  directs 
him  to  send  for  the  man  who  carried  the  keys  of 
the  kingdom.  Cornelius  is  the  first  to  knock  at 
the  door  for  entrance.  He  could  not  have  ventured 
nigh  without  the  command  from  heaven.  Besides, 
it  was  every  way  best  in  such  a  case  that  the 
movement  should  commence  with  the  excluded 
party.  The  Gentile  was,  after  all,  the  sinner.  If 
reconciliation  is  to  be  secured  let  the  offender  seek 
it.  It  will  make  it  easier  for  Peter  a  few  weeks 
hence  in  Jerusalem  to  say  that  he  did  not  offer  the 
gospel  to  the  nations.  God  sent  a  man  from 
among  them  to  seek  it.  The  movement  began  with 
God  and  not  with  Peter. 

The  story  begins  with  a  description  of  Cornelius. 
He  was  of  pure  Roman  blood,  as  we  gather  from 
the  statement  that  he  belonged  to  the  Italian  band. 
This  was  his  barrier  to  the  kingdom,  as  well  as  the 
reason  why  he  was  selected  to  enter  it.  His  dis- 
advantage was  his  advantage.  But  while  his  na- 
tionality was  against   him,    everything  else  was    in 


84  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

his  favor.  He  was  a  man  of  earnest  spirit.  He 
revered  Jehovah,  and  had  led  all  his  household  to 
do  the  same.  He  was  kind  toward  the  Jews,  giv- 
ing them  much  in  alms,  and  he  observed  the  Jew- 
ish hours  of  daily  prayer.  If  by  birth  he  was  a 
heathen,  in  heart  and  life  he  was  equal  to  the  best 
Jew.  It  was  such  a  man  that  God  chose  to  lead 
into  the  kingdom.  Peter  made  special  note  of  his 
character  when  he  came  to  offer  him  the  gospel 
(x.  35).  The  mouth  of  Jewish  exclusiveness  and 
prejudice  could  find  no  word  to  utter  against  Cor- 
nelius. Even  bigotry  must  be  dumb.  The  gospel 
was  for  the  foulest  heathen,  as  well  as  for  the  fair- 
est. But  the  time  for  the  vile  was  not  yet  ripe. 
The  Lord  did  not  tax  his  people  too  heavily  when 
he  offered  them  the  first  alien  for  their  suffrage. 

Why  Cornelius  had  a  vision  of  this  character  is 
not  revealed.  He  may  have  been  praying  for  an 
assured  salvation.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  that 
he  was  seeking  an  entrance  to  the  church.  He 
knew  the  obstacles.  But  he  is  greatly  encouraged 
to  send  for  Peter.  First,  he  is  assured  that  his 
pious  deeds  are  acceptable.  And  in  the  instruction 
for  finding  Peter  one  word  is  thrown  in  that  would 
help  Cornelius.  Peter  was  stopping  with  a  "tan- 
ner" (v.  6),  a  business  so  ceremonially  unclean  that 
he  who  pursued  it  lived  outside  the  city  by  the  sea- 
side. The  soldier  would  be  led  by  this  word  to 
feel  that  Peter  was  not  the  most  rigid  Jew,  and 
that  he  might  be  approached.      For   Cornelius  did 


PREPARATION  FOR  ADMISSION  OF  GENTILES       85 

not  know  how  thoroughly  the  Lord  would  prepare 
the  apostle  for  the  summons  from  Csesarea  Cor- 
nelius sent  in  pure  faith  in  the  divine  vision,  being 
convinced  by  it  that  Peter  would  tell  him  what  he 
ought  to  do.  He  sent  forthwith.  He  shows  his  re- 
gard for  Peter  by  sending  two  from  his  household, 
and  a  devout  soldier.  But  before  he  dispatches  them 
they  must  be  prepared  for  their  strange  mission. 
This  was  not  a  case  like  that  in  which  another 
centurian  could  say:  "I  have  soldiers  under  me, 
and  I  say  to  one  go  and  he  goeth"  (Luke  vii.  8). 
These  had  a  common  interest  with  their  superior, 
and  must  plead  their  own  in  pleading  his.  And 
thus  the  three  men  set  out,  unconscious  that  they 
are  the  world's  first  missionaries  for  the  heathen. 
The  next  day  Peter  has  his  vision.  The  mid-day 
meal  is  delayed,  it  may  be  all  the  more  because  an 
apostle  was  to  be  dined.  He  is  in  prayer.  Who 
knows  but  this  very  Gentile  question  was  pressing 
itself  upon  his  heart?  Judea  was  evangelized,  and 
the  leading  apostle  has  reached  the  very  border  of 
the  sea  that  led  out  to  the  world.  Where  should 
he  go  next?  Meanwhile  his  hunger  increases,  and 
gives  shape  to  the  visions  of  his  head.  What  a 
trifle  is  a  dinner.  The  tardiness  in  getting  this 
particular  one  ready  was  an  important  factor  in  the 
world's  salvation.  Before  God  nothing  is  indiffer- 
ent, and  in  the  furtherance  of  his  purpose  the  com- 
monplace becomes  sublime.  The  trance  into  which 
Peter  fell  was   in   line  with  the  physical   condition 


86  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

in  which  he  was.  He  saw  food  animals  as  well  as 
others,  and  he  heard  a  voice  inviting  him  to  slay 
and  eat.  But  there  was  a  deeper  meaning.  The 
very  question  to  be  settled  was  a  social  one,  a 
question  about  eating.  Equality  is  expressed 
nowhere  so  clearly  as  at  the  table.  Peter  and  Cor- 
nelius were  soon  to  sup  at  the  same  board.  And 
the  vision  asks  him  to  eat  where  clean  and  unclean 
are  mingled.  Two  other  things  Peter  would  note. 
The  great  sheet  came  down  out  of  heaven.  It  was 
offered  to  him  from  above.  When  the  vision  was 
over  the  sheet  returned  to  heaven.  Would  this  not 
say  to  him  that  men  on  either  side  of  the  code  of 
Moses  were  now  acceptable  on  high?  The  vision 
was  repeated.  Peter  saw  and  heard  three  times. 
The  voice  was  unmistakable — "What  God  hath 
cleansed  that  call  not  thou  common  or  unclean." 
The  repetition  showed  the  exceeding  importance 
of  that  which  was  signified. 

While  Peter  is  trying  to  solve  the  meaning  of  the 
trance  the  messengers  from  Caesarea  have  found 
the  house  where  he  is  stopping,  and  are  inquiring 
for  him.  He  gets  another  lesson.  The  Spirit  bids 
him  to  go  with  them.  In  a  matter  so  serious  the 
chief  actor  must  have  the  clearest  light  for  his 
course.  The  messengers  make  their  errand  known, 
and  in  pleading  the  cause  of  their  master  drop  one 
fact  not  given  before.  He  is  "of  good  report  among 
all  the  nation  of  the  Jews"  (v.  22).  If  any  hea- 
then can  be  received  among  the  Jews  this  was  just 


PREPARATION  FOR  ADMISSION  OF  GENTILES       87 

the  man  to  select  for  that  honor.  Peter  has  no 
choice.  He  must  go.  But  he  cannot  start  that 
day,  so  that  another  strange  thing  occurs.  He 
took  into  the  house  and  lodged  three  Gentiles. 
Did  he  eat  at  the  same  table  with  them?  The 
next  day  they  set  out  on  the  journey  to  Caesarea. 
But  Peter  does  not  go  alone.  In  a  matter  of  so 
much  importance  he  takes  witnesses  with  him, 
"certain  brethren  from  Joppa."  We  learn  subse- 
quently their  number  was  six.  Is  it  at  all  signifi- 
cant that  with  Peter  this  made  the  number  of  Jews 
who  went  on  this  mission  seven?  In  the  meeting 
between  the  apostle  and  the  soldier  we  see  the 
most  profound  respect  on  the  part  of  the  latter. 
He  meets  Peter  at  a  distance  from  the  palace,  and 
worships  him.  But  that  he  learns  better  is  seen  la- 
ter when  he  walks  by  his  side  and  the  two  converse 
as  equals  until  the  house  is  reached.  Here  Peter 
meets  a  great  company.  "Many  were  gathered 
together."  It  must  be  observed  that  this  Gentile 
Pentecost  affected  probably  more  persons  than 
were  present  in  the  upper  room  at  the  Jewish  Pen- 
tecost.  At  the  latter  the  number  was  one  hundred 
and  twenty.  With  the  family,  the  kinsmen,  the 
servants  and  the  devout  soldiers  that  pertained  to 
Cornelius,  we  may  well  suppose  that  they  exceeded 
one  hundred  and  twenty.  Peter  begins  by  encour- 
aging them.  They  know  well  that  he  is  a  Jew, 
but  he  assures  them  of  what  God  has  taught  him. 
He  will  not  look  on  his  new,    strange   audience  as 


88  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

common  or  unclean,  but  he  asks  for  a  formal  state- 
ment of  the  intent  for  which  he  was  summoned. 
Cornelius'  reply  is  already  known  except  the  con- 
clusion. This  is  worthy  of  the  man:  "Now  there- 
fore we  are  all  here  present  before  God" — not 
present  merely  before  God's  minister — "to  hear" 
— not  to  be  entertained,  then — "all" — let  no  part  of 
the  truth  be  withheld — "things  that  are  command- 
ed thee  of  God."  He  did  not  seek  Peter's  opinions, 
but  God's  will;  which,  he  implies,  Peter  fully 
knows. 

The  sermon  follows.  It  is  simple  and  straight- 
forward. Peter  had  no  cavilers  before  him  now. 
Luke  introduces  it  with  the  statement:  "Peter 
opened  his  mouth  and  said,"  a  formula  used  when 
something  formal  and  fundamental  is  about  to  be  ut- 
tered (Matt,  v.2,  Acts  ii.  14).  After  the  introduc- 
tion (vs.  34,  35)  Peter  presents  first  the  life  of 
Christ,  up  to  the  cross,  summed  up  in  one  word: 
"He  went  about  doing  good,"  of  which  life  the 
apostles  were  witnesses  (vs.  36-39).  Second,  he 
declares  that  Jesus  was  raised  from  the  dead,  of 
which  fact  also  the  apostles  were  witnesses  (vs. 
40,  41).  In  the  third  place,  the  offices  of  Jesus 
are  set  forth  with  an  apt  quotation  of  Scripture, 
suited  to  the  audience,  that  "whosoever"  believeth 
in  him  shall  receive  the  remission  of  sins.  This 
prophetic  word,  as  Abbott  shows,  gives  us  (a)  the 
means,  (b)  the  universality,  (c)  the  condition,  and 
(d)   the   nature   of  salvation.      But  Peter  did   not 


PREPARATION  FOR  ADMISSION  OF  GENTILES       89 

wait  until  the  end  of  his  discourse  to  declare  the 
tfil-embracing  character  of  the  salvation  provided. 
He  interjected  it  near  the  beginning,  as  is  seen  in 
the  parenthetic  sentence  about  the  Messiah:  "He 
is  Lord  of  all"  (v.  36).  He  belongs  not  to  the 
lews  only,  but  also  to  the  world. 

The  introduction  needs  careful  attention.  It  can 
be  easily  misunderstood  and  has  been  misunder- 
stood. Peter  perceives  "that  in  every  nation  he 
that  fears  God  and  works  righteousness  is  accepted 
with  him."  Does  Peter  mean  to  say  that  Corne- 
lius is  already  in  a  state  of  grace,  so  that  his  sins 
are  forgiven  and  he  is  saved?  In  declaring  his 
perception  that  Cornelius  is  accepted  with  God 
does  Peter  mean  to  teach  that  faith  in  Jesus  is  not 
indispensable  to  salvation,  but  that  fear  of  God 
and  righteous  works  constitute  the  ground  of  sal- 
vation? To  affirm  this  is  as  illogical  as  it  is  un- 
scriptural.  The  logic  of  the  whole  story  is  that 
Peter  has  been  led  to  see  that  a  man  like  Corne- 
lius is  acceptable  in  God's  sight  to  hear  the  gospel. 
He  is  eligible  to  the  kingdom.  The  fear  of  God 
and  works  of  righteousness  have  not  taken  the 
place  of  Christ,  but  the  place  of  Moses.  If  Peter 
had  thought  that  none  but  Jews  were  acceptable 
candidates  for  the  kingdom,  he  now  sees  that  this 
company  of  Gentiles  is  also  acceptable.  Therefore 
he  proceeds  to  offer  them  the  gospel  and  the  for- 
giveness of  sins  in  Christ.  And  Cornelius  could 
not  misunderstand  Peter's  introduction,  for  in   the 


00  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

former's  vision  the  angel  had  said  to  him:  "Send 
for  Simon,  who  shall  tell  thee  words  whereby  thou 
and  all  thy  house  shall  be  saved"  (xi.  14).  From 
this  he  would  learn  that  at  length  he  was  accept- 
able for  that  salvation  which  hitherto  had  not  been 
preached  to  any  but  the  chosen  people. 

Two  things  may  be  further  noted  in  this  intro- 
ductory sentence  in  Peter's  speech.  He  probably 
did  not  raise  the  question  whether  the  noble  sol- 
dier before  him  was  a  forgiven  or  an  unforgiven 
man.  He  had  nothing  to  do  with  that.  Peter 
was  not  present  in  the  character  of  a  theologian. 
He  only  knew  that  his  hearers  had  not  believed  in 
Christ,  for  never  before  had  he  been  authoritatively 
presented  to  their  faith.  Peter  came  to  offer  him, 
he  saw  his  hearers  were  fit  subjects  for  the  gospel, 
and  this  was  the  whole  of  his  mission. 

Another  point  to  consider  is  that  Peter's  per- 
ception, unquestionably  correct,  as  far  as  it  went, 
was  far  from  the  whole  truth.  It  is  certain  that 
he  that  fears  God  and  works  righteousness  is  accept- 
able with  God,  but  acceptableness  of  this  sort  is 
not  limited  by  moral  worth.  The  lowest  and  the 
vilest  Gentiles  were  also  acceptable  for  the  gospel 
(I  Cor.  i.  26-29;  vi.  I0>  II)-  Peter  was  not  laying 
down  a  principle,  only  describing  the  case  before 
him.  The  principle  is  found  in  the  Scripture  which 
he  quoted  at  this  time:  " w/tosoever. .belicveth  in  Him 
shall  receive  remission  of  sins."  But  to  have  in- 
sisted on  the  widest  interpretation  of  this  inspired 


PREPARATION  FOR  ADMISSION  OF  GENTILES       91 

sentence  at  this  time,  would  have  been  impolitic. 
The  conservative  Jews  might  have  taken  fright. 
The  widest  interpretation  was  not  necessary.  None 
but  the  best  Gentiles  come  before  Peter  for  en- 
trance to  the  kingdom,  and  he  contents  himself 
with  saying  that  such  are  acceptable.  Let  a  fur- 
ther development  show  that  the  baser  sort  may 
come  too. 

But  while  both  Peter  and  Cornelius  have  been 
instructed  by  vision  that  before  God  the  Gentiles 
are  no  longer  "common  or  unclean,"  the  six  men 
who  accompanied  Peter  have  had  no  instruction. 
They  receive  it  here  in  the  house  of  the  Gentile. 
While  Peter  is  yet  speaking,  and  before  baptism 
has  been  administered,  or  the  apostle's  hands  laid 
on,  the  Holy  Spirit  falls  on  the  Gentiles.  The  six 
brethren  had  not  looked  for  this.  They  had  not 
believed  it  possible,  as  their  astonishment  shows. 
Peter  was  no  doubt  now  confirmed  in  the  teaching 
of  his  vision,  but  he  is  not  astonished,  for  he  must 
have  expected  that  the  Spirit  would  be  given.  But 
the  six  brethren  were  to  be  convinced  so  that  they 
might  assist  Peter  in  convincing  others  that  God 
had  accepted  the  Gentiles.  And  this  is  the  reason 
that  in  this  solitary  instance  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
conferred  before  baptism.  The  Lord  was  leading 
his  servants.  "When  he  putteth  forth  his  own 
sheep  he  goeth  before  them." 

The  large  place  which  these  six  brethren  hold  in 
this  story  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  must  not 


02  THE  ACTS  OF  THh  APOSTLES' 

be  overlooked.  They  occupy  almost  the  whole 
space.  For  whom  else  than  they  did  Peter  ad- 
dress in  his  challenge,  "Can  anyone  forbid  the 
water  that  these  should  not  be  baptized?"  Surely 
his  appeal  was  not  to  any  Gentile  present,  but  to 
them  to  whom  he  could  say  of  these  Gentiles: 
"They  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as 
we."  And  when  he  commanded  the  household  of 
Cornelius  to  be  baptized  whom  did  he  command 
but  these  six  brethren?  By  their  administration 
of  the  ordinance  they  show  their  own  solemn  con- 
viction that  God  has  also  chosen  the  heathen. 

It  remains  now  that  the  apostles  and  the  breth- 
ren that  were  in  Judea  should  be  led  to  accept  the 
new  state  of  affairs.  The  point  at  issue  must  not 
be  overlooked.  They  heard  that  the  Gentiles  had 
received  the  word  of  God.  Against  this  they  had 
nothing  to  say.  The  Old  Testament  promised  sal- 
vation to  the  heathen.  Jesus  had  commanded  that 
it  should  be  offered,  and  the  Jews  had  never  ob- 
jected. This,  then,  is  not  the  point.  Those  who 
contended  with  Peter  make  their  opposition  clearly 
understood  in  their  charge:  "Thou  wentest  in  to 
men  uncircumcised,  and  didst  eat  with  them" 
(xi.  3).  The  apostle's  offense  was  not  that  he  had 
preached  to  Gentiles.  It  was  not  that  he  had  ad- 
mitted them  to  baptism.  It  was  that  he  had  ele- 
vated them  to  his  own  social  level.  It  was  not 
that  he  had  gone  outside  of  the  Jewish  fold  to  give 
the  heathen  religions  aid.      He   had   brought  them 


PREPARATION  FOR  ADMISSION  OF  GENTILES       93 

in  and  treated  them  as  if  they  were  of  the  same 
household.  The  Pharisees  did  not  find  fault  with 
Jesus  because  he  preached  to  publicans  and  sin- 
ners. They  no  doubt  felt  that  these  vile  classes 
greatly  needed  moral  instruction  and  bitter  pen- 
itence. The  Pharisees'  hot  complaint  against  the 
Saviour  was:  "How  is  it  that  he  eateth  and  drink- 
eth  with  publicans  and  sinners"  (Mark  ii.  16,  Luke 
xv.  2).  The  complaint  against  Peter  is  the  same. 
He  knew  that  it  was  "an  unlawful  thing  for  a  man 
that  is  a  Jew  to  keep  company  or  to  come  unto  one 
of  another  nation"  (x.  28).  But  the  vision  from 
God  had  taught  him  not  merely  to  give  the  gospel 
to  the  Gentiles,  but  fraternity.  For  the  grace  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  not  only  puts  away  men's  sins,  but 
establishes  brotherhood  among  them.  They  that 
have  the  same  Spirit  from  God  have  the  same 
rank  before  him. 

To  satisfy  his^ewish  brethren  on  this  social  ques- 
tion Peter  relates  fully  how  he  came  to  enter  the 
house  of  Cornelius.  He  does  not  fail  to  tell  his 
offended  hearers  that  the  six  brethren  now  stand- 
ing with  him  had  accompanied  him  into  the  Gen- 
tile's family.  Of  his  sermon  he  gives  no  account, 
for  it  was  not  evidential.  He  only  says  that  he 
began  to  speak  (xi.  1  5)  and  passes  at  once  to  the 
fact  that  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  the  heathen.  He 
adds  his  reflection  at  the  time  on  this  fact:  "Then 
remembered  I  the  word  of  the  Lord  how  that  he 
said,  John  indeed  baptized  with  water,  but  ye  shall 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  That  is,  he 
must  have  seen  a  significance  in  these  words  he 
never  saw  before.  He  cannot  mean  that  he  had  not 
recalled  them  until  this  late  day.  For  they  must 
have  occurred  to  him  at  Pentecost.  They  must 
have  recurred  to  him  in  the  city  of  Samaria.  They 
must  have  been  constantly  with  him  in  all  the 
years  of  his  ministry  thus  far.  But  in  the  gift  of 
the  Spirit  bestowed  on  the  heathen  he  saw  what 
had  not  occurred  to  him  earlier.  The  divine  act 
in  bestowing  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  Gentiles 
opened  Peter's  eyes  to  a  further  meaning  of  the 
divine  words  about  that  gift.  He  saw  that  the 
antithesis  between  John's  baptism  and  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  did  not  lie  in  the  material,  so  to 
speak,  of  the  two  acts,  the  one  water,  the  other 
Spirit.  The  latter  was  vastly  broader  than  the 
former.  If  John's  baptism  pertained  to  none  but 
Jews,  this  could  no  longer  be  affirmed  of  the  other 
baptism.  Peter  now  saw  that  in  the  words  "ye 
shall  be  baptized,"  the  word  "ye"  could  not  be 
bounded  by  locality  or  nationality.  It  was  as  wide 
as  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  make  it.  It  embraced 
all  whom  God  was  pleased  to  make  his  people. 
Peter  thus  sees  another  antithesis  in  the  two  bap- 
tisms, an  antithesis  not  only  in  the  material,  but 
in  the  scope.  John's  baptism  never  went  beyond 
the  Jews.  That  which  the  Lord  administered 
from  on  high  was  to  be  world  wide. 

And  now  Peter  appeals  to  his  Jewish  opponents. 


PREPARATION  FOR  ADMISSION  OF  GENTILES       05 

When  God's  Spirit  was  poured  out  upon  the  house- 
hold of  Cornelius,  and  they  received  the  like  gift 
as  the  Jews  at  the  beginning,  who  was  Peter,  to 
resist  or  to  deny  (xi.  17)?  If  God  made  the  Gentile 
equal  with  the  Jew  in  his  favor,  would  not  Peter 
have  denied  the  divinely  given  equality  if  he  had 
refused  the  hospitality  of  Cornelius?  It  was  but 
loyalty  to  God  to  eat  under  his  roof.  Peter  says 
nothing  now  about  the  baptism  of  these  Gentiles, 
for  that  is  not  in  question.  But  so  clearly  has  he 
vindicated  his  social  act  that  his  audience  is  con- 
vinced and  admit  that  God  has  given  "repentance 
unto  life"  to  the  heathen. 

But  it  will  be  observed  now  that  the  Jewish  be- 
lievers are  no  more  than  prepared  for  the  admission 
of  the  Gentiles.  The  right  of  the  latter  to  the  gos- 
pel is  conceded.  It  has  not  yet  wholly  reached 
the  practical  stage.  Jews  and  Gentiles  met  at  the 
table  on  this  one  occasion,  and  then  the  former 
withdrew,  and  are  back  again  among  their  circum- 
cised brethren.  And  the  Gentile  believers  consti- 
tute a  community  by  themselves.  We  have  not 
yet  one  body  composed  of  Jews  and  Gentiles. 
That  comes  later,  and  it  comes  soon.  But  God 
has  now  surely  taught  the  circumcised  that  saving 
grace  is  no  longer  to  be  confined  to  them.  They 
are  qualified  for  a  broader  work.  The  Gentile  is 
to  be  received  into  the  church  not  only  without 
circumcision  but  also  as  a  social  equal. 


90  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  X 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  NEW  RELIGIOUS  CENTER 

Acts  xi.   19-30 

In  the  spread  of  the  gospel  only  a  few  religions 
centers  were  formed,  from  which  the  work  extended 
to  the  outlying  regions.  These  contiguous  re- 
gions were,  no  doubt,  soon  filled  with  churches, 
but  attention  is  mainly  directed  to  the  cities  Jerusa- 
lem, Ephesus,Philippi,  Corinth,  Rome.  The  section 
before  us  shows  how  the  first  of  those  outside  of 
the  Jewish  capital  became  a  center.  Antioch  grows 
almost  as  important  as  Jerusalem,  whose  leading 
apostle  will  soon  disappear  from  view.  Jt  is  every 
way  new,  new  in  character,  new  in  its  leaders, 
and  here  a  new  name  is  given  to  the  followers  of 
Jesus.  A  second  center,  and  one  of  this  nature, 
was  necessary  to  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 
Jerusalem  never  started  any  missionaries  to  the 
heathen.  A  few  were  forced  out.  Antioch  be- 
came the  source  of  the  evangelizing  forces,  and 
they  were  sent  forth  deliberately.  Jerusalem  was 
hampered  by  the  Rabbinical  yoke.  Antioch  was 
free.  The  education  of  Jerusalem,  by  its  narrowing, 
restrictive  influence,  unfitted  it  for  a  diffusing 
source.  Its  sun  shone  but  it  had  no  rays.  Anti- 
och was  cosmopolitan.     It  furnished  the  platform 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  NEIV  RELIGIOUS  CENTER      97 

from  which  all  the  world  could  be  seen.  It  was 
adapted  for  that  for  which  it  was  chosen.  It  was 
superior  to  Babylon  because  it  was  on  the  highway 
to  the  west,  where  the  vigor  and  the  life  of  the 
race  had  gone.  Babylon  was  too  far  east.  Anti- 
och  was  superior  to  Alexandria,  which  was  too  Jew- 
ish, and  too  much  addicted  to  speculative  culture. 
It  was  superior  to  any  of  the  great  cities  farther 
west,  because  it  was  contiguous  to  Judaism,  and  yet 
far  enough  removed  that  the  narrowness  and  big- 
otry  prevailing  further  south  might  not  cramp  it. 
The  Holy  Spirit  spreads  the  truth,  but  he  uses,  as 
means,  the  men  and  the  nations  qualified  for  the 
work  by  position,  by  culture  and  by  broad  ideas. 
In  modern  missions  why  should  the  United  States 
bear  a  more  conspicuous  part  than  Germany,  which 
was  Protestant  centuries  before  we  became  a  na- 
tion? Among  other  things  the  difference  in  polit- 
ical organization  and  spirit  supplies  the  answer. 
A  free  church  in  a  free  state,  where  every  man  is 
the  equal  of  every  other  man  before  the  constitu- 
tion, develops  broad  hearts,  hearts  that  have  leis- 
ure to  attend  to  the  world's  needs.  Sovereign 
grace  is  best  made  known  by  sovereign  men.  A 
city  freer  in  its  spirit  than  Antioch  was  not  to  be 
found  in  that  day,  and  here  God  raised  up  the 
church  that  bore  so  honorable  a  part  in  giving  the 
truth  to  the  world.  The  text  shows  how  this 
church  was  founded. 

The  persecution  that  arose  about  Stephen  spread 


98  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

the  gospel  into  Judea  and  Samaria.  The  wave, 
however,  did  not  stop  there.  Some  of  the  scattered 
church  of  Jerusalem  penetrate  far  north,  to  ancient 
Phoenicia,  to  the  isle  of  Cyprus  and  to  the  heathen 
city  on  the  Orontes.  They  did  not  offer  the  gos- 
pel to  any  but  Jews.  But  some  of  this  evangeliz- 
ing company  traveling  north  were  Hellenists,  Jews 
belonging  to  the  isle  of  Cyprus  and  to  distant  Cy- 
rene  in  Africa.  The  mention  of  their  respective 
countries  (xi.  20)  at  once  explains  their  conduct. 
In  these  places  so  far  away  from  Jerusalem,  the 
rigidity  of  the  Pharisee  would  not  prevail.  The 
heathen  man  would  be  better  known  and  his  nat- 
ural virtues  recognized.  The  men  of  Cyprus  and 
Cyrene  could  not  have  been  stiff  in  their  Judaism. 
They  were  liberal  in  their  feelings  toward  their 
uncircumcised  neighbors.  What  Peter  did  not 
gain  without  a  vision,  to  call  no  man  common  or 
unclean,  these  had  learned  by  their  surroundings 
in  an  alien  land.  Their  unconscious  training 
among  the  heathen  schooled  them  for  mission  work 
among  them.  The  persecution  was  started  among  » 
the  Hellenists  at  Jerusalem,  and  it  scattered  them. 
They  now  advance  the  gospel  to  a  new  sphere. 
They  venture  to  speak  for  the  first  time  to  the  un- 
circumcised. The  word  Grecians  (v.  20)  in  our 
King  James'  version  is  a  palpable  error.  It  signi- 
fies Hellenists,  that  is,  Jews  born  outside  of  Pal- 
estine, to  speak  to  whom  would  have  been  noth- 
ing new.     The  gospel  on  Pentecost's  day  was  spok- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  NEW  RELIGIOUS  CENTER      99 

en  to  the  Grecians  or  Hellenists.  But  to  speak  to 
Greeks  was  to  break  over  the  Jewish  barriers  of 
separation.  And  all  modern  versions  have  the 
word  Greek  here,  instead  of  the  reading  found  in 
the  King  James',  a  reading  condemned  by  the  in- 
ternal evidence. 

The  courageous  act  of  the  Cypriotes  and  Cyren- 
ians  meets  at  once  with  the  divine  approval.  For  a 
great  number  of  heathen  believed  and  turned  to  the 
Lord.  And  this  may  mean,  though  it  cannot  be 
urged,  that  no  great  success  had  attended  the  evan- 
gelists until  they  spoke  to  the  heathen.  But  here 
the  success  was  marked.  So  great  was  the  work 
that  Jerusalem  hears  of  it  (v.  22.)  A  messenger 
is  sent  forth  to  look  after  it.  And  here  now  we  see 
how  the  Lord  had  ordered  events  that  they  might 
appear  at  the  right  time.  He  knew  what  was  his 
own  work  in  the  north.  He  knew,  too,  that  the 
report  of  it  would  reach  Jerusalem.  Hence  there 
is  given  duly  to  Peter  the  vision  at  Csesarea,  and  all 
connected  with  it,  that  Jerusalem  may  be  fitted  to 
receive  the  news  from  Antioch  with  equanimity. 
The  vision  did  not  fail  in  its  intent,  as  is  seen  in 
the  man  selected  by  the  mother  church  to  inspect 
this  work  among  the  Gentiles.  He  is  himself  a 
Hellenist,  a  native  of  Cyprus,  and  a  man  of  most 
liberal  spirit.  He  is  sent  forth  apparently  without 
any  instructions,  except  to  go  to   Antioch. 

When  Barnabas  arrives  in  Antioch  there  is 
nothing  for  him   to  alter,  amend,  or  propose.      He 


100  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

recognizes  at  once  that  the  work  is  the  Lord's,  and 
he  is  glad,  and  gives  it  his  hearty  endorsement, 
exhorting  all  to  continue  in  the  good  way  by  cleav- 
ing to  the  Lord  "with  the  purpose  of  the  heart"  (v. 
23).  To  add  to  the  value  of  his  endorsement  and 
to  account  for  his  unprejudiced  verdict  we  are  told 
that  Barnabas  was  a  man  of  high  character,  "a 
good  man  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith  " 
That  such  an  one  should  commend  this  movement 
among  the  Gentiles  shows  that  it  must  have  been 
from  God.  His  approval  would  have  the  very 
greatest  weight  at  Jerusalem.  But  Barnabas  did 
more  than  approve.  His  presence  at  Antioch, 
by  its  encouragement  and  sanction,  multiplied  the 
number  of  converts  greatly,  so  that  "much  peo- 
ple was  added  to  the  Lord."  Additional  help  was 
needed.  And  nothing  goes  further  to  prove  that 
we  have  now  reached  a  new  center  in  the  spread  of 
the  kingdom,  than  Barnabas'  journey  to  Tarsus  to 
seek  out  Saul.  He  did  not  go  south  for  Peter  or 
James,  but  north  for  the  man  whose  life  had  been 
threatened  in  the  very  place  where  the  chief  apos- 
tle was  honored.  Antioch  was  surely  very  different 
from  Jerusalem  if  it  sought  Saul  and  did  not  ask 
the  aid    of  Peter. 

With  Saul's  arrival  in  Antioch  a  year's  instruc- 
tion in  the  church  was  begun  and  accomplished. 
The  new  converts  from  heathenism  would  need 
no  little  training.  At  just  this  point  two  things 
are  to  be  noticed.   Luke  calls  this  body  of  convert- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  A  NEW  RELIGIOUS  CENTER    101 

ed  heathen  a  church,  a  name  which  he  was  slow 
to  associate  with  the  Jerusalem  believers,  and 
which  up  to  this  time  has  not,  save  once,  (ix.  31) 
been  connected  with  any  other  assembly.  Neither 
the  Samaritans  nor  those  in  the  household  of  Cor- 
nelius are  termed  a  church.  But  at  Antioch  the 
word  comes  promptly. 

Again,  at  just  this  place  a  little  sentence  is  writ- 
ten by  Luke  which  affords  much  light:  "And  the 
disciples  were  called  Christians  first  at  Antioch." 
But  our  King  James'version  here  does  not  do  Luke 
justice,  and  really  violates  his  meaning  by  the  punct- 
uation. This  sentence  should  not  be  separated 
by  a  period  from  what  precedes.  The  Greek  for- 
bids it.  Of  six  different  modern  translations  ex- 
amined, no  one  employs  the  period.  Some  punct- 
uate with  a  semicolon,  and  some  with  what  is 
still  better,  a  comma.  What  Luke  intends  to  con- 
vey is  that  Saul  and  Barnabas  taught  in  the  church 
for  a  year,  and  the  disciples  were  called  Christians. 
The  name  was  a  consequence  of  the  teaching. 
Thomas  Sheldon  Green's  rendering  of  this  passage 
is:  "And  it  came  to  pass  with  them,  that  they 
were  combined  even  for  a  whole  year  in  the  church 
and  taught  much  people,  and  that  the  disciples  were 
first  called  Christians  at  Antioch."  It  came  to 
pass  with  them,  under  their  guidance  of  the  church, 
that  the  distinctive  title  came  about.  It  is  wide  of 
the  mark  to  suppose  that  this  worthy  name  by 
which  these  believers  were  called,  was  given  in  de- 


102  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

rision  by  their  heathen  opponents.  It  would  add 
nothing  to  ascertain  who  first  applied  the  name. 
It  was  used  here  first.  Its  use  shows  a  body  of  be- 
lievers somewhat  different  from  any  who  had  pre- 
ceded them.  The  disciples  of  Jesus  in  Jerusalem 
would  not  dare  to  employ  this  distinctive  term. 
They  needed  no  special  designation.  They  were 
all  Jews,  Jews  who  accepted  Jesus  as  Messiah. 
But  in  Antioch  we  have  a  body  who  are  not  all 
Jews.  The  largest  part  are  from  the  heathen. 
But  unlike  the  Jews  they  have  broken  with  their 
former  supreme  object  of  worship,  and  are  no 
longer  heathen.  They  have  been  led  by  the  teach- 
ing of  Saul  and  Barnabas  into  fellowship  abso- 
lutely free  from  every  former  religion.  They  are 
not  bound  to  their  idol  gods.  They  never  were 
under  Moses.  They  are  a  unique  body,  and  a 
name  was  inevitable.  And  the  new  name  is  proof 
of  a  new  body. 

The  section  closes  (xi.  27)  with  a  beautiful  pict- 
ure of  the  benevolence  of  the  church  at  Antioch. 
In  proof  of  the  newness  of  the  believing  community 
formed  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  we  had  the  story 
of  the  community  of  goods.  Here  we  have  substan- 
tially the  same  spirit  and  for  the  same  purpose.  This 
new  community  is  genuinely  new,  for  it  parts  with 
its  goods.  But  while  new  and  somewhat  different, 
there  is  not  a  suspicion  of  a  division  between  Anti- 
och and  Jerusalem.  It  is  a  prophet  from  the  latter 
city  who  finds  himself  in   the   full   exercise   of    his 


DEVELOPMENT  OE  A  HEW  RELIGIOUS  CENTER    10S 

function  among  these  Gentile  believers.  They  re- 
spond to  his  prediction  with  their  help  for  Jerusa- 
lem, and  Barnabas  and  Saul  convey  their  bounty 
thither.  The  former  has  been  a  long  time  absent 
on  his  mission  from  the  Jewish  church.  The  ma- 
terial help  which  he  brings  back  would  be  an 
effective  report  on  the  character  of  the  work  which 
he  was  sent  to  inspect. 


104  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  XI 

THE  CHURCH  IN  CONFLICT  WITH  THE    JEWISH  STATE 

Acts.  xii.  1-24. 

The  enthroned  Lord  has  given  his  followers  two 
signal  victories  so  far.  They  have  triumphed  over 
religious  persecution.  They  have  burst  the  bonds 
of  Pharisaic  legalism,  and  established  a  church 
among  the  Gentiles.  Their  third  trial  is  at  hand. 
The  state  comes  to  notice  them,  and  unsheathes  its 
sword  in  opposition.  Will  the  Lord  deliver  them 
from  the  enmity  of  the  throne,  as  he  did  from  the 
malice  of  the  Sanhedrin?  Nothing  can  withstand 
his  purpose  to  establish  his  church  in  the  world. 
The  text  shows  how  the  disciples  learned  that  they 
had  nothing  to  fear  from  the  might  of  the  state. 
There  are  four  points  in  the  lesson:  first,  how  se- 
curely Peter  was  imprisoned;  second,  minute  de- 
tails about  his  delivery;  third,  the  hesitancy  of  the 
church  to  credit  the  reality  of  his  escape,  and  fourth, 
the  death  of  the  king. 

Little  good  was  to  be  expected  from  the  grand- 
son of  the  great  but  bloody  Herod.  His  half-sister 
Herodias  secured  the  death  of  John  the  Baptist 
about  seventeen  years  before  this  time.  The  exe- 
cutioner of  the  first  martyr  among  the  apostles, 
Herod  Agrippa  I.  was  in  full  sympathy  with  unre- 


CONFLICT  WITH  THE  JEWISH  STATE  105 

generate  Judaism.  The  great  council  could  not 
compass  the  death  of  one  of  the  twelve,  but  the 
king  can.  When  he  saw  that  it  pleased  the  Jews, 
he  proposed  to  please  them  still  more,  by  destroy- 
ing Peter.  It  is  especially  noted  that  his  cruelty 
was  aimed  at  the  "church."  As  to  James'  death 
the  account  is  most  meager.  He  is  identified  as 
the  brother  of  John,  and  he  died  by  being  behead- 
ed. Stephen's  death  occupies  a  large  place  in  the 
record.  For  it  was  the  pivot  on  which  the  course 
of  the  church  turned.  As  James'  death  had  no 
such  result,  a  detailed  account  would  be  outside 
Luke's  purpose  in  writing  this  book.  We  turn  to 
Peter.  If  James'  death  was  acceptable  to  Judaism, 
would  not  the  chief  apostle's  be  more  so  ?  And  what 
was  to  hinder  the  destruction  of  all  the  leaders, 
one  after  another?  And  then  what  could  the  church 
do  with  its  divinely  appointed  guides  gone?  But 
how  does  it  happen  that  Peter  should  be  arrested 
apparently  at  the  beginning  of  the  eight  days'  pas- 
chal feast?  During  this  sacred  week  no  executions 
could  occur.  Time  was  thus  afforded  the  church 
for  prayer  and  for  reflection.  At  any  other  season 
Peter's  life  would  have  been  prolonged  but  a  few 
hours  beyond  the  time  of  his  arrest.  But  now  he 
is  certain  to  be  spared  for  some  days.  The  scru- 
pulous care  with  which  he  was  kept  in  jail  made 
the  divine  intervention  the  more  conspicuous. 
That  Jesus'  body  was  so  carefully  guarded  in  the 
tomb  intensifies  the  certainty  that  it  was  not  stolen 


106  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

by  his  disciples.  Peter  had  escaped  once  before 
from  prison.  This  could  not  be  forgotten.  Four 
quaternions  of  soldiers  are  to  make  a  second  es- 
cape impossible.      He  was  diligently  guarded 

The  church  could  not  fail  to  realize  the  sad  con- 
dition in  which  it  was  placed.  One  apostle  was 
dead;  the  chief  one  was  held  for  death;  when  would 
it  be  the  turn  for  a  third?  Prayer  was  all  that 
was  left,  and  prayer  was  inevitable.  The  specific 
thing  for  which  they  prayed  is  not  given.  The 
Lord  had  allowed  the  death  of  one  of  the  original 
number.  Might  it  not  be  his  will  that  a  second 
should  be  taken?  Thick  darkness  confronted  them. 
The  last  night  before  the  fatal  day  had  come.  But 
this  last  night  was  the  very  best  in  which  to  make 
the  lesson  of  God's  helpful  interference  impressive. 
The  black  background  makes  the  lines  of  the  pict- 
ure clearer. 

Peter's  delivery  from  Herod's  prison  is  given  with 
minute  particularity:  the  stroke  on  his  side,  the 
lifting  of  him  to  his  feet,  his  girdle,  his  sandals,  his 
cloak,  his  passage  out  of  his  cell,  his  course 
through  one  guard  after  another,  his  exit  from  the 
prison  through  the  iron  gate  into  the  city,  his  walk 
with  the  angel  the  distance  of  one  square,  and  his 
recovery  of  full  consciousness.  His  rescue  on  the 
former  occasion  is  dispatched  with  a  word  (v.  19). 
Here  we  have  every  detail.  The  explanation  is 
easy.  The  rescue  was  not  the  point  there.  Here 
we    are   concerned    with   nothing  else    more.      If 


CONFLICT  WITH  THE  JEWISH  STATE  107 

Luke's  object  is  to  tell  us  how  the  Lord  saved  his 
own  from  the  clutches  of  the  state,  we  may  an- 
ticipate that  he  will  linger  on  the  act  of  the  deliv- 
ery. It  was  in  Peter's  reflection  on  these  items 
that  he  learned  their  import,  that  God  had  deliv- 
ered him  from  Herod.  Noyes  translates  the  next 
verse  (v.  12)  not  "when  he  had  considered  the 
thing,"  but  "when  he  understood  the  matter." 
The  details  aided  him  to  become  fully  conscious 
of  their  meaning.  They  taught  him  the  Lord's  in- 
tent. 

The  next  step  brings  Peter  to  the  house  of  Mary, 
who  is  identified  as  the  mother  of  John  Mark. 
Here  again  the  story  moves  slowly  until  a  picture 
is  made.  In  this  house  many  were  assembled  for 
prayer — apparently  for  the  whole  night.  Peter 
knocks  at  the  street  door,  and  calls  aloud.  He 
had  often  been  there  before,  for  his  voice  is  recog- 
nized by  Rhoda,  who  came  to  hearken.  Her  name 
is  given  because  she  has  a  prominent  part.  As 
soon  as  she  distinguished  the  familiar  tone,  in  very 
joy,  forgetting  to  open  the  gate,  she  bursts  into  the 
solemn,  sad  meeting  with  the  wild  exclamation  that 
Peter  stands  without.  They  cannot  believe  it. 
They  debate  with  Rhoda,  and  go  so  far  as  to  charge 
her  with  madness.  And  when  her  positiveness 
wins  a  reluctant,  halfway  assent,  they  will  only 
admit  that  it  may  be  Peter's  guardian  angel  in  the 
likeness  of  Peter.  Plainly  they  did  not  expect  the 
apostle.      If   they  were  praying  for  his  escape  they 


108  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

were  not  prepared  for  such  an  overwhelming  an- 
swer to  their  petition.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  specific  theme  of  their  supplications,  they  had 
yet  to  learn  that  the  Lord  was  as  strong  for  them 
against  the  godless  state,  as  he  had  been  against 
the  faithless  council.  They  had  to  learn  that  the 
Lord  could  preserve  them  from  the  power  of  the 
latter.  He  has  shown  them  now  that  he  will  pro- 
tect them,  not  perhaps  from  the  punishment,  but 
certainly  from  the  destruction  threatened  by  the 
throne.  And  from  that  day  to  this  it  has  remained 
so.  A  state  may  impede  the  truth  within  its  bor- 
ders; it  cannot  expel  it. 

When  Peter  is  at  last  admitted  to  the  midnight 
prayer  meeting  they  must  have  looked  upon  him  with 
as  much  wonder  as  if  he  had  just  arisen  from  the 
dead.  He  tells  them  the  whole  story  of  the  Lord's 
mercy  to  him.  But  there  is  somewhere  another 
anxious  band,  "James  and  the  brethren" — perhaps 
more  than  one  band.  This  James  is,  of  course, 
not  the  apostle,  but  may  be  the  one  known  as  the 
Lord's  brother.  Peter  directs  that  he  and  the  rest 
be  relieved  of  their  anxiety  by  being  informed  of 
what  occurred.  They,  too,  must  learn  that  the 
Lord  was  mightier  than  the  state.  And  then  he 
went  into  another  place  (v.  17).  The  indefinite- 
ness  of  the  last  remark  comes  about  because  the 
writer  is  not  so  much  concerned  with  Peter,  who  is 
now  free  from  prison,  as  with  the  persecutor  of  Pe- 
ter. Our  attention  is  not  to  be  given  to  the  apos- 
tle, but  to  the  king. 


CONFLICT  WITH  THE  JEWISH  STATE  109 

The  death  of  the  guards  was  certain  to  follow. 
They  could  not  account  for  Peter's  unclasped  chains 
and  vacant  cell.  Their  execution  emphasizes  the 
inexplicable,  divine  power,  and  its  secrecy  in  lead- 
ing Peter  out  of  the  prison.  Could  they  have  given 
any  reason  for  the  prisoner's  absence  their  lives 
might  have  been  spared.  They  were  examined, 
but  in  a  court  that  could  not  for  a  moment  admit 
any  divine  agency  in  evidence,  they  were  sure  of 
conviction  as  abettors  in  the  escape.  They  served 
a  hard  master,  one  who  opposed  God,  and  they 
suffer  for  such  alliance.  And  yet  their  death  is  to 
the  discredit  of  the  king.  A  more  careful  and  se- 
rious examination  of  the  case  would  have  disclosed 
the  fact  that  the  guards  were  guiltless.  Mary,  the 
mother  of  John  Mark,  and  a  hundred  others,  could 
have  told  the  royal  officers  how  Peter  got  away 
from  the  king's  prison.  But  doubtless  they  would 
not  have  been  believed. 

The  feast  of  the  Passover  having  now  come  to 
an  end,  Herod  would  return  to  Csesarea.  Here  a 
question  of  politics  engages  his  attention.  The 
ancient  country  of  Phoenicia  had  offended  him. 
He  had  the  advantage  and  must  be  conciliated. 
The  right  or  the  wrong  in  the  case  does  not  ap- 
pear. The  trouble  was  allayed  by  influence.  By 
some  means,  whether  material  or  not,  does  not 
appear,  the  offending  party  make  the  king's  high 
officer  their  friend,  and  he  brings  his  master  around. 
The  dependent   province   secures   peace,    and  the 


HO  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

current  of  commercial  interests  flows  unobstruct- 
ed once  more.  This  would  please  all  parties,  and 
the  promoter  of  business  must  be  honored.  A  day 
is  fixed  and  the  king  addresses  the  ambassadors 
from  Tyre  and  Sidon.  They  know  what  will  please 
him,  and  give  him  the  adoration  of  a  god,  the  honor 
which  the  Roman  emperors  received.  He  descend- 
ed from  the  throne  where  he  had  just  made  his 
oration,  a  very  ill  man.  In  five  days,  if  Josephus 
may  be  trusted,  he  dies  a  horrible  death,  "eaten  of 
worms."  No  Jew  would  misunderstand  a  calam- 
ity of  this  kind.  And  the  members  of  the  church 
would  not  fail  to  interpret  it  aright.  Men  would 
say  that  the  king  dies  in  the  course  of  nature.  But 
the  saints  would  know  that  he  was  removed  by  the 
vengeance  of  God,  whose  work  was  not  to  be 
thwarted  by  a  Godless  state  official. 

But  it  will  be  noted  that  it  is  not  said  that  God's 
condemnation  fell  on  Agrippa  because  he  slew 
James  and  would  have  destroyed  Peter.  These 
base  acts  were  but  symptoms  of  a  moral  malady 
deeper  down  in  the  king's  heart.  The  angel  of 
the  Lord  smote  him  because  he  gave  not  God  the 
glory  (v.  23).  He  arrogated  the  divine  preroga- 
tive. This  was  his  crime,  and  the  secret  of  his 
taking  off.  There  is  a  place  for  the  state  in  the 
affairs  of  men.  It  is  so  ordered.  The  powers  that 
be  are  ordained  of  God.  But  the  state  exists,  if  not 
to  promote,  certainly  not  to  hinder  the  work  of 
the  kingdom  and  the   spread  of  the   gospel.      And 


CONFLICT  WITH  THE  JEWISH  STATE  ill 

whenever  the  state  or  its  officer  stands  in  the 
way  of  the  truth  they  are  obnoxious.  Herod  was 
especially  offensive  in  that  he  used  the  power  given 
him  for  government  in  order  to  exalt  himself. 
This  is  the  teaching  of  the  chapter.  Men  have  not 
heeded  it,  just  as  they  have  failed  to  heed  the  les- 
son in  the  story  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  just  as 
they  have  failed  to  heed  many  another,  but  the 
lesson  is  plain,  and  ought  to  give  heart  to  the  mis- 
sionary of  whatever  rank.  It  must  have  helped 
the  saints  then,  for  the  very  next  note  after  the 
story  of  Herod's  death  is,  "the  word  of  God  grew 
and  multiplied"  (v.  24).  The  church  that  had  been 
checked  by  Herod's  cruel  work  now  resumed  its 
function,  and  once  more  spread  the  truth. 


113  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION   XII 

THE  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  GENTILES  FORMALLY 
BEGUN 

Acts  xii.  25 — xiv.  28 

The  church  is  at  length  prepared,  after  more  than 
sixteen  years,  to  begin  formally  and  deliberately 
its  work  among  the  heathen.  The  Sanhedrin 
seems  to  have  lost  its  power  to  hinder.  The  Jewish 
state  will  never  again  oppose.  But,  more  than  all, 
Jewish  caste  has  been  broken,  and  its  prejudice 
driven  to  the  rear  so  that  it  will  not  soon  stand  in 
the  way  again.  A  new  center  of  gospel  influence 
has  been  founded  in  Antioch.  The  religious 
thought  of  Jews  under  the  power  of  the  Spirit  has 
found  a  new,  a  deeper,  a  broader  channel.  God 
is  no  longer  the  God  of  the  Jews  only.  The  world 
has  put  on  a  new  face,  because  it  has  become  the 
field  of  the  divine  grace. 

This  first  regular  work  among  the  heathen  was 
not  very  wide  in  its  scope.  It  did  not  reach  Rome. 
It  did  not  reach  Corinth  or  even  Ephesus.  It  ex- 
tended but  a  very  few  hundred  miles  beyond  Saul's 
birthplace  in  Tarsus.  In  giving  its  history  Luke 
shows  how  God  promoted  it  from  first  to  last,  how 
it  was  carried  on  and  how  it  was  justified  by  the 
obstinacy  of  the  Jews  who  were  encountered  in  this 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  GENTILES  113 

first  missionary  journey.  Many  other  things  come 
in  incidentally. 

The  record  of  the  first  offer  of  the  gospel  to  the 
world  begins  after  the  return  of  Saul  and  Barna- 
bas from  their  visit  of  benevolence  to  Jerusalem. 
The)7  bring  back  with  them  John  Mark.  These 
three  set  out  to  bear  the  light  to  the  heathen. 

The  new  center  at  Antioch  was  not  without  its 
gifts,  prophets  and  teachers.  A  list  of  their 
names  is  given  in  which  Barnabas  stands  first, 
and  Saul  last.  The  test  of  work  gives  men  their 
rank,  and  the  work  which  is  to  put  Saul's  name 
in  the  lead  has  not  yet  begun.  To  the  other  names 
certain  little  notes  are  added  to  identify  them. 
Such  notes  are  not  needed  with  the  mention  of 
Barnabas  and  Saul,  for  with  these  two  the  record 
has  long  ago  made  us  fully  acquainted.  It  was 
while  these  five  were  ministering  in  the  church 
(though  the  church  is  not  mentioned)  and  fasting, 
that  the  Holy  Ghost,  no  doubt  by  the  mouth  of 
one  of  the  prophets  among  them,  called  Barnabas 
and  Saul  to  their  special  work.  By  their  fasting 
they  may  have  been  seeking  the  mind  of  the  Lord 
about  this  very  matter  of  a  wider  evangelization. 
But  let  the  object  of  their  abstemious  devotion  be 
what  it  may,  the  Lord  made  his  will  clearly 
known,  and  Barnabas  and  Saul  are  chosen  to  ex- 
ecute it.  A  second  fast  with  prayer  and  imposition 
of  hands  follows,  for  the  work  is  new  and  great. 
In  their   going   forth    Luke  is    careful    to  say  that 


114  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

they  were  sent  not  by  the  church,  but  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  who  acted  through  his  church.  They  do 
not  stop  at  Seleucia,  which  is  but  sixteen  miles 
from  Antioch,  and  can  be  evangelized  by  the  home 
church.  They  proceed  to  Cyprus  and  preach 
in  the  synagogues  there.  Of  the  result  there  is  no 
record.  But  just  here  (v.  5)  Luke  tells  us  that 
John  accompanied  the  missionaries  to  assist  in  the 
work.  This  information  is  necessary  to  under- 
stand some  things  occurring  later.  From  Salamis 
the  preachers  proceed  to  the  western  end  of  the 
island.  And  here  they  encounter  and  vanquish  their 
first  obstacle.  In  the  history  of  Simon  Magus  we 
have  already  anticipated  what  confronts  us  here. 
He  who  met  Jesus,  as  well  as  Adam,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  career,  will,  if  it  is  possible,  bar  at  the 
start  the  mission  to  the  heathen.  Elymas  is  rec- 
ognized and  addressed  as  the  "child  of  the  devil." 
Bunyan's  pilgrim  is  far  on  his  journey  before  he  is 
assailed  by  Apollyon.  But  in  the  inspired  narra- 
tives the  Evil  One  is  mostly  found  at  the  beginning 
of  things.  For  these  narratives  are  largely  a  his- 
tory of  combat  with  the  Enemy  of  Souls. 

Elymas  is  an  apostate  Jew.  His  name,  Bar- 
jesus,  or  son  of  Jesus,  is  Jewish.  It  was  this  cor- 
rupt spirit  which  withstood  Barnabas  and  Saul. 
The  opposition  from  Jews  encountered  hitherto 
was  at  least  conscientious.  This  was  conscienceless 
and  satanic.  It  would  corrupt  the  island  at  its 
head.      Sergius  Paulus  was  a  heathen,  but    he  was 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  GENTILES  115 

a  thoughtful  man.  He  sought  to  know  the  gospel, 
and  the  spirit  of  Satan  in  the  Jewish  sorcerer  at- 
tempted to  keep  him  in  darkness.  The  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  in  Saul  sends  judgment  upon  the  crafty  enemy, 
but  judgment  tempered  with  mercy.  He  is  to  be 
blind  only  "for  a  season."  The  deputy  is  rescued 
from  this  enemy  of  righteousness.  He  believed. 
And  it  is  said  to  his  credit  that  when  he  saw  what 
was  done  he  was  astonished,  not  at  the  miracle 
(viii,  13)  but  at  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord  (v.  12). 
For  God's  grace  in  the  salvation  of  a  sinner  is 
more  wonderful  than  all  his  works  of  judgment. 
And  thus  the  Word  starts  to  the  world,  crowned 
with  a  victory.  The  Lord,  by  the  preaching  of  his 
truth,  is  superior  to  the  spirit  of  corrupt  Judaism. 
The  triumph  here  is  a  pledge  that  perverts  from 
the  truth  cannot  hold  those  whom  God  has  chosen 
to  know  the  truth.  Elymas  may  take  a  lofty 
name  and  call  himself  a  son  of  Jesus,  but  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  unmasked  him  and  allowed  all  to  see 
that  he  was  a  deceiver  in  league  with  Satan. 

In  this  story  there  lies  a  little  parenthesis  that 
cannot  be  overlooked.  "Saul  is  also  called  Paul." 
The  time  when  he  showed  the  power  with  which 
he  was  endowed  for  the  work  among  the  Gentiles, 
is  just  the  time  to  tell  of  the  name  by  which  he 
was  known  among  the  Gentiles.  Saul  is  Hebrew. 
Paul  is  Hellenistic.  How  this  latter  name  arose 
is  unknown.  From  his  youth  the  apostle  may 
have  been  called  both  Saul  and   Paul.      But  what 


116  '    THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

is  left  so  wholly  in  the  dark  would  be  of  no  value 
if  clearly  discovered.  It  is  best  to  follow  where 
the  light  leads.  Jacob,  when  he  drew  near  to  God 
and  became  worthy  of  his  patriarchal  position,  was 
called  Israel.  Simon,  when  called  to  the  apos- 
tolic office,  was  called  Peter.  James  and  John  got 
the  designation  of  Boanerges.  Joses,  of  the  coun- 
try of  Cyprus,  after  he  gave  his  property  to  the 
church,  was  never  known  by  this  name  again. 
The  disciples  called  him  Barnabas.  The  believ- 
ers at  Antioch  in  becoming  a  new  center  were  now 
called  Christians.  A  change  or  an  attainment 
seems  to  have  been  followed  by  a  change  in  appel- 
lation. Paul  in  his  encounter  with  Elymas  rose 
up  like  a  new  man.  He  showed  himself  possessed 
of  a  power  which  he  had  not  exhibited  before.  He 
enters  the  place  here  which  the  Lord  intended 
him  to  fill,  and  here  is  just  the  place  to  tell  of  his 
new  name.  It  indicates  that  a  change  had  come 
in  his  life,  and  is  mentioned  to  mark  that  change. 
Hence  we  find  hereafter  a  reversal  in  the  order  of 
the  names  of  these  two.  All  along  it  has  been 
Barnabas  and  Saul.  Now  it  will  be  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas. Indeed  in  the  very  next  verse  after  the 
story  about  Elymas  (v.  13)  Paul's  name  stands 
alone  as  the  center  of  a  group  no  further  designat- 
ed. That  Sergius  had  also  the  name  Paulus  has 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  change.  Paul 
in  saving  him  from  the  power  of  the  sorcerer 
showed  as  never  before  the  gift  that  was  in  him, 
and  his  new  name  marks  its  first  exhibition. 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  GENTILES  117 

When  the  island  is  left  and  the  mainland  is 
reached  at  Perga,  John  leaves  his  fellow  travelers 
and  goes  back  to  Jerusalem.  Only  the  fact  is  men- 
tioned here,  not  the  motive  of  his  return.  We  do 
not  learn  until  later  that  one  of  the  leaders  did 
not  consider  that  motive  a  worthy  one. 

Apparently  the  apostles  do  not  preach  the  word 
in  Perga  until  their  return.  They  hasten  on  to 
Antioch,  and  now  the  account  becomes  very  full. 
They  enter  the  synagogue  and  are  invited  to  speak. 
It  is  Paul  and  not  Barnabas  who  complies.  His  first 
recorded  sermon  follows.  It  is  recorded  because 
now  they  have  fully  entered  upon  their  new  work, 
and  the  sermon  shows  by  what  arguments  they 
sought  to  persuade  men.  The  speech  exhibits 
some  likeness  to  that  at  Pentecost,  but  it  has  also 
some  striking  differences.  Its  leading  thought  is 
that  God,  in  a  series  of  changes  increasing  in  help- 
fulness, has  always  provided  for  the  good  of  his 
people — 'this  series  culminating  in  the  gift  of  his 
Son.  This  progressive  feature  in  the  divine  econ- 
omy clearly  marks  Stephen's  speech.  It  would 
have  been  very  ill-timed  in  Peter's  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  The  points  in  the  discourse  before  us 
are  three: — 

I.      Proof  from  history: 

(a)  God  chose  and  exalted  the  people   (v.    17). 

(b)  He  delivered  them  from  Egypt   (v.   17). 

(c)  He  gave  them  a  country   (v.    18,     19). 

(d)  He  provided  judges    (v.    20). 


lis  The  acts  of  the  apostles 

(e)  At  their  request  he  gave  them  a  king  (v. 
21). 

(f)  After  removing  him  he  raised  up  David,  a 
man  after  his  own  heart   (v.    22). 

(g)  From  this  man's  seed  sprang  Jesus     (v.    23). 

II.  That  Jesus  is  a  deliverer  is  proved: 

(a)  By  the  testimony  of  John  (vs.    24,  25). 

(b)  By  his  rejection,  which  prophecy  foretold 
(vs.    26-29). 

(c)  By  his  resurrection,  a  fact  attested  (1)  by 
eye-witnesses  (vs.  30-32)  and  (2)  by  Scripture 
(vs.    33-37). 

III.  The  appeal. 

(a)  Encouragement   (vs.    38,  39). 

(b)  Warning  (vs.    40,  41). 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  every  act  in  this  long 
series  only  God  or  his  servants  appear  as  agents, 
with  two  exceptions — the  desire  (v.  21)  for  a  king, 
and  the  rejection  of  Jesus  (v.  27).  In  these  two 
cases  Israel  interfered  to  their  confusion. 

The  apostle,  in  recalling  the  history  of  the  Jews, 
inserts  some  notes  of  time.  One  of  these,  the  length 
of  Saul's  reign,  is  given  only  here  in  the  Bible. 
The  length  of  the  judges'  reign  presents  a  diffi- 
culty, when  compared  with  the  statement  in  I  Kings 
vi.  1,  that  in  the  480th  year  after  the  exodus,  in  the 
fourth  year  of  his  reign,  Solomon  founded  the  tem- 
ple. If  the  judges  ruled  during  450  of  these  years, 
where  are  we  to  find  time  for  the  forty  years  in  the 
wilderness,  the  twenty-five   for   Joshua's  adminis- 


E  VANGELIZA  TION  OF  THE  GEN  TIL  ES  119 

tration,  the  forty  for  Saul  and  David  each,  and 
the  four  of  Solomon's  reign  before  the  first  stone 
in  the  temple  was  laid?  It  is  possible  that  Paul 
referred  to  a  system  of  chronology  unknown  to  us. 
The  difficulty  has  not  been  satisfactorily  solved. 
The  real  question  is,  What  did  Paul  mean  by  these 
notes  of  time?  They  help  his  hearers  to  appre- 
ciate the  divine  persistence  in  bringing  deliverers 
to  Israel.  The  work  extended  over  long  reigns 
and  centuries.  Without  the  mention  of  the  years 
the  hearer  would  not  so  readily  get  the  notion  of 
God's  patient  continuance  in  his  helpful  purpose. 
In  discussing  the  resurrection  Paul  does  not  men- 
tion his  own  experience,  but  that  of  the  Galilean 
disciples.  In  his  argument  from  Scripture  he  does 
not  select  the  portions  used  by  Peter  at  Pentecost. 
He  uses  two  which  have  a  broader  range.  Peter 
makes  Jesus  to  be  David's  exalted  Son.  Paul's 
first  passage  makes  him  God's  Son  essentially,  and 
the  second  connects  him  with  David  only  as  inher- 
iting the  promises  made  to  the  latter.  The  argu- 
ment in  both  quotations  is  clear,  but  not  at  first 
sight  obvious.  In  the  first  Paul  relies  on  the 
words  found  in  the  second  Psalm:  "Thou  art  my 
son  (because)  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee."  If 
Jesus  is  God's  Son,  he  must  be  begotten,  that  is, 
have  life  derived  from  the  Father,  have  life  im- 
parted, and  where  else  did  he  so  certainly  receive 
this  life  as  when  he  lay  dead  in  the  tomb?  As 
the    Father's   life  is    eternal,  so  is    that  which  he 


120  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

gave  to  Jesus  after    he  surrendered    on    the    cross 
that  natural  life  received  through  Mary. 

The  other  passage  is  simpler — "I  will  give  you 
the  sure  mercies  of  David."  This  has  been  trans- 
lated, "I  will  give  to  you  the  holy,  the  sure  prom- 
ises of  David."  The  argument  is  that  the  charac- 
ter of  those  promises  is  such  that  they  could  not 
be  made  sure  to  one  who  possessed  only  mortal 
life.  He  must  have  eternal  life,  such  life  as  res- 
urrection imparts.  The  sum  of  the  promises  made 
to  David  was  that  he  should  have  an  heir  to  sit  on 
his  throne  forever  (II  Sam.  vii.  16,  25).  To 
realize  such  a  promise  made  it  necessary  that  Da- 
vid's heir  should  rise  from  the  dead,  no  more  to 
die. 

In  the  appeal  we  have,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
book,  a  contrast  between  Moses  and  Christ.  In 
the  latter  all  who  believe  are  justified  from  all 
things.  In  the  Law  men  could  not,  be  justified  at 
all.  It  is  the  argument  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ga- 
latians  in  a  nutshell.  It  is  safe  to  say  this  in  dis- 
tant Antioch,  and  at  a  time  so  far  removed  from 
Pentecost.  It  would  have  been  imprudent  for 
Peter  to  enunciate  this  truth  in  the  beginning 
at  Jerusalem.  The  motive  held  out  then  was  that 
he  who  would  receive  Christ  should  also  receive 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  Law  of  Moses  was  not 
mentioned. 

Paul's  sermon  had  its  effect.  Some  Jews  and 
proselytes    believed,    but  the   Gentiles  were    espe- 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  GENTILES  121 


cially  desirous  to  hear  more.  The  next  Sunday 
brought  the  town  to  the  doors  of  the  Synagogue. 
The  dog  in  the  manger  spirit  showed  itself  and  Paul 
addressed  himself  to  it.  He  declared  that  these 
envious  Jews  by  their  conduct  had  passed  sentence 
against  themselves,  that  they  were  unworthy  of 
eternal  life.  This  phrase,  eternal  life,  occurs  here 
for  the  first  time  in  the  book,  and  is  confined  to 
this  particular  story.  It  has  often  been  shown 
hitherto  that  Jesus  has  been  raised  from  the  dead. 
Indeed  that  is  the  constant  theme.  But  now  as 
the  work  widens  the  thought  expands,  and  here  in 
the  presence  of  this  heathen  throng  it  is  at  last 
clearly  intimated  that  the  believer  participates  in 
that  everlasting  life  in  which  Jesus  came  from  the 
tomb. 

The  apostles  announce  their  purpose  to  direct 
their  work  now  toward  the  Gentiles.  In  declar- 
ing that  they  are  commanded  to  do  so  they  quote 
not  an  injunction  to  that  effect,  but  a  word  of  Script- 
ure which  asserted  that  Christ  belongs  also  to  the 
Gentiles.  They  found  their  command  from  Christ 
on  a  prediction  about  him  (v.  47).  This  was  every 
way  more  forcible  than  to  have  said  the  Spirit  sent 
them  forth  to  the  Gentiles.  For  this  might  have 
been  denied  by  their  faithless  Jewish  hearers,  who 
could  not  so  readily  fly  in  the  face  of  a  quotation 
from  their  own  Law. 

The  Gentiles  hail  the  offer  of  the  gospel.  They 
glorified  the  word  of  the  Lord.    It  is  plainly  Luke's 


122  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

intent  by  such  statements  about  their  generous 
receptivity  and  the  corresponding  statement  about 
the  Jews'  obstinacy  to  justify  the  mission  to  the 
heathen.  But  here  we  meet  with  an  assertion  that 
-irrests  attention — they  that  were  ordained  to  eter- 
nal life  believed  (v.  48).  It  need  not  be  asked  who 
ordained  these  who  believed,  or  when  they  were 
ordained.  To  ordain  implies,  of  course,  some 
competent  agent,  and  the  ordination  preceded  the 
faith  of  these  disciples  and  set  the  limit  to  their 
number.  But  these  are  not  the  questions  to  consid- 
er here,  for  they  are  not  considered  in  the  account. 
But  why  should  this  startling  statement  be  made 
at  this  particular  point  of  time?  Why  does  not 
Luke  content  himself  with  saying,  as  in  similar 
cases  before,  "they  became  obedient  to  the  faith" 
(vi.  7)  or  "the  Lord  added  such  as  should  be  saved" 
(ii.  47)  ?  And  is  it  not  true  that  all  along  until  this 
time  only  those  who  were  ordained  to  life  believed? 
Why  mention  the  fact  here  for  the  first  time?  The 
gospel  has  been  preached  to  the  Gentiles  before. 
But  this  is  the  first  time  that  it  was  formally  offered 
and  at  the  direction  of  God.  The  missionaries 
turn  deliberately  from  Israel  as  unworthy  of  eter- 
nal life,  and  begin  unmistakably  the  work  among 
the  heathen.  The  Rubicon  is  no  longer  before 
them,  it  is  crossed  and  the  gospel  stands  at  length 
on  the  side  toward  Rome.  The  gospel  has  gone  to 
the  Gentiles;  will  all  Gentiles  accept  it?  The 
question  could  not  be  answered,  even   by  Paul  and 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  GENTILES  123 

Barnabas,  without  experience.  And  experience 
came  here  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia,  and  it  is  decisive. 
In  spite  of  the  kindly  attitude  of  the  heathen  to- 
ward Christ,  they  did  not  all  accept  him.  And 
the  preachers  learn,  and  their  historian  records 
that  we  may  learn,  how  the  work  will  proceed 
among  those  who  are  aliens  from  the  common- 
wealth of  Israel.  Only  an  elect,  ordained  number 
will  be  saved.  The  rest,  like  the  mass  of  the  Jews, 
will  refuse  the  offer  of  mercy.  We  knew  before 
that  Israel  as  a  nation  would  reject  the  Messiah. 
Antioch  in  Pisidia  was  the  first  place  to  show  that 
only  selected  ones  among  the  Gentiles  would  ac- 
cept the  Messiah.  "O  righteous  Father,  the  world 
hath  not  known  thee,  but.  .  .  .  these  have  known 
that  thou  hast  sent  me"  (Jno.  xvii.  26). 

When  the  Gentiles  gave  their  favor  to  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  there  was  nothing  to  hinder  the  spread 
of  the  gospel  in  all  that  region.  But  human  con- 
sent is  no  shield  to  the  truth.  The  approval  of 
the  majority  cannot  sustain  the  preacher,  or  Jesus 
would  never  have  been  crucified.  The  malignance 
of  the  Jews  drives  Paul  and  Barnabas  from  the 
entrenchment  of  their  friends,  and  they  leave  An- 
tioch. Since  here  the  gospel  makes  its  first  clean 
break  with  the  Jews,  here  first  we  have  the  cere- 
mony of  shaking  the  dust  from  the  feet  for  a  tes- 
timony against  the  opposition  (v.  51).  Jesus  has 
prescribed  this  sign  of  his  abhorrence,  and  the  place 
was  at  last    reached   where   it    could  be  solemnly 


m  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

exhibited.  But  though  the  evangelists  must  de- 
part their  work  remains,  for  the  disciples  were 
filled  with  joy  and  the  Holy  Ghost  (v.    52). 

Paul  and  Barnabas  are  next  found  in  Iconium. 
The  scenes  at  Antioch  are  re-enacted  here  with  two 
variations.  The  record  does  not  dwell  on  the  suc- 
cess of  the  work,  great  as  it  was,  but  on  the  op- 
position. This  came,  as  before,  from  the  Jews, 
but  now  they  secured  the  evil  help  of  the  Gentiles. 
This  would  furnish  the  missionaries  an  additional 
proof  that  the  Gentiles  as  a  body  could  not  be  re- 
lied on  to  accept  the  good  news.  Indeed  they  are 
represented  in  Iconium  as  rather  worse  than  the 
Jews.  If  the  latter  are  charged  with  exciting  them 
to  evil,  it  is  the  Gentiles  who  are  represented  as 
leading  in  the  purpose  to  stone  the  missionaries 
(xiv.  5).  The  other  feature  in  which  the  work  dif- 
fered here  from  that  in  Antioch,  is  that  miracles 
attended  it.  Plainly,  the  opposition  in  Iconium 
was  very  bitter,  much  more  so  than  in  the  former 
city,  and  so  the  Lord's  help  was  more  abundant. 
"He  gave  testimony  to  the  word  of  his  grace,  and 
granted  signs  and  wonders  to  be  done"  (xiv.  3). 
The  missionaries  left  Antioch  openly,  but  here 
they  had  to  fly  for  their  lives.  We  find  them  next 
in  the  Lycaonian  cities  of  Lystra  and    Derbe. 

In  Lystra  a  new  difficulty  is  met.  God's  gracious 
power  exhibited  in  a  miracle  is  turned  against  him 
and  the  missionaries  are  declared  to  be  gods. 
Judaism  had  done   little  better.      When   Jesus  fed 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  GENTILES  125 

the  multitude  of  five  thousand,  instead  of  bowing 
to  the  truth  they  attempted  to  force  a  crown  on 
Jesus'  head. 

A  well  known,  inveterate  cripple  lived  at  Lystra. 
How  often  he  had  heard  the  preaching  we  know 
not,  but  apparently  more  than  once,  for  sufficient 
time  had  elapsed  for  the  populace  to  observe  that 
Paul  was  the  "chief  speaker."  Something  in  the 
mien  of  the  lame  man  convinced  the  missionary 
that  he  trusted  the  Saviour.  With  a  loud  voice, 
so  that  all  might  hear,  Paul  called  to  the  lame 
man  to  stand  upright.  The  healing  was  instant 
and  the  lame  man  leaped  up  and  walked  about. 
Paul  must  have  preached  in  the  Greek  language. 
The  heathen  audience  responded  to  the  miracle  in 
their  own  tongue  doubtless,  which  the  apostle  did 
not  understand,  or  he  and  Barnabas  would  have 
rejected  the  proffered  honors  on  the  spot,  without 
waiting  until  the  sacrifice  of  oxen  and  garlands  was 
prepared.  Paul  and  Barnabas  with  earnest  Orient- 
al protestations  persuaded  the  people  from  their 
purpose.  The  speech  (vs.  14-17)  is  the  germ  of 
the  address  made  four  years  later  on  Mars'  Hill. 
After  denying  that  they  are  divine  beings,  the  mis- 
sionaries state  their  object,  to  turn  their  hearers 
from  these  vain  dead  idols  to  the  living  God.  He 
is  declared  to  be  the  creator  of  all  things.  His 
long-suffering  is  asserted.  His  beneficence  in  giv- 
ing rains  from  heaven  and  fruitful  seasons  is  shown 
to  be  a  witness  to  his  existence  and  character. 
The  speech  scarcely  gained  its  end. 


126  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


And  now  the  Jews  behave  worse  than  ever. 
This  is  the  culmination  of  their  spite,  and  we  are 
shown  that  a  satanic  worship  can  be  outdone  by 
a  satanic  hate.  Paul  has  withstood  idolatry,  but 
Jews  who  profess  abhorrence  of  it  come  all  the  way 
from  distant  Antioch  in  Pisidia  and  from  Iconium 
and  join  these  idolaters,  and  incite  them  to  stone 
the  man  who  would  turn  them  from  idols.  Surely 
Israel  has  judged  itself  unworthy  of  eternal  life, 
and  the  gospel  is  vindicated  in  going  to  the 
heathen. 

The  mob  led  by  Jews  was  not  as  successful  in 
its  attempt  against  Paul's  life  as  it  supposed  itself 
to  be.  After  it  had  dispersed,  the  disciples  re- 
maining with  the  apparently  lifeless  body  were 
surely  overjoyed  to  see  their  teacher  recover  con- 
sciousness, and  rise  to  his  feet.  God  had  spared 
him  from  the  fury  of  the  mob.  It  must  have  been 
by  some  secret  means  that  he  ventured  back  into 
the  city  and  took  a  night's  rest  after  his  pains  and 
bruises. 

Luke  makes  no  note  of  anything  special  at  Derbe. 
After  they  taught  many  there,  the  .  mission- 
aries revisit  the  cities  which  they  had  evangelized. 
The  object  of  this  second  visit  was  to  insure  the 
permanence  of  their  work.  The  means  to  this 
end  is  just  simply  instruction.  The  apostles  teach 
the  churches  themselves  and  then  appoint  from 
the  membership  elders  to  continue  the  instruction 
after  the    apostles  have    left.      In  the    months  in- 


EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  GENTILES  127 

tervening  between  the  first  and  second  visit  the 
churches  had  been  left  to  themselves.  In  this  time 
it  would  become  apparent  in  each  body  who  had 
gifts  of  leadership.  Such  men  Paul  and  Barnabas 
would  designate  for  the  spiritual  oversight  of  the 
church,  and  after  a  season  of  prayer  and  fasting 
with  the  entire  membership,  all  were  entrusted  to 
the  Lord  in  whom  they  had  believed. 

Luke  having  now  fully  exhibited  the  work  of  the 
first  mission  journey,  with  a  few  rapid  strokes  (vs. 
24-26)  brings  the  apostles  back  to  Antioch  in 
Syria.  He  makes  but  one  note.  Perga,  where 
the  evangelists  did  not  stop  in  the  outward  course, 
was  evangelized  on  the  return  homeward.  On 
reaching  home  they  call  the  church  together  and 
report  what  God  had  done  with  them,  as  a  proof 
that  the  door  to  the  Gentiles  was  divinely  opened. 
Luke  gives  no  hint  of  the  manner  in  which  the  re- 
port was  received,  for  this  does  not  concern  him 
here.  And  now  the  faithful,  heroic  missionaries 
make  a  long  sojourn  among  their  friends. 


128  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  XIII 

THE  CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION    FOR  THE 
GENTILES  SETTLED 

Acts  xv.  I-J5 

The  church,  which  had  its  beginning  among  the 
Jews  at  Jerusalem,  has  now  not  only  spread  among 
the  heathen,  but  has  long  been  admitting  them  to 
membership  with  no  other  condition  than  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  the 
history  has  now  reached  the  year  50  A.  D.,  about 
twenty-one  years  after  Pentecost.  A  change  in 
sentiment  in  so  short  a  time  and  so  stupendous,  in 
which  Jew  and  Gentile  become  brothers,  is  without 
a  parallel  in  history.  That  a  reaction  should  en- 
sue is  not  strange.  And  yet  the  case  before  us  is 
hardly  a  reaction.  It  might  have  been  supposed 
that  the  vision  seen  by  Peter  at  Joppa  settled  the 
terms  of  the  Gentiles'  admission  to  the  church.  On 
the  report  of  it  and  of  the  conversion  of  the  house- 
hold of  Cornelius,  the  brethren  in  Jerusalem  joy- 
fully exclaimed,  "Then  hath  God  also  to  the  Gen- 
tiles granted  repentance  unto  life"  (xi.  18).  But  it 
will  be  remembered  that  all  this  was,  in  Peter's  own 
language,"agood  while  ago"  (xv.  7).  Apparently  fif- 
teen years  had  elapsed.  A  new  generation  had  come 
into  the  church  at  Jerusalem.   They  had  not  heard 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION  FOR  GENTILES      129 

Peter's  report  of  his  experience  at  Caesarea,  though 
they  must  have  heard  about  it.  They  needed  in- 
formation. 

Again  the  question  in  form  was  somewhat  differ- 
ent now  from  that  which  had  been  determined  fif- 
teen years  before.  Then  it  was  settled  that  God 
had  granted  life  to  the  Gentiles.  Now  the  church 
decides  on  what  grounds  they  can  be  saved.  The 
former  question  does  not  once  appear  in  the  de- 
liberations at  this  time  in  Jerusalem.  The  breth- 
ren are  wholly  concerned  with  the  conditions  on 
which  the  Gentiles  can  be  assured  of  eternal  life. 
To  keep  this  distinctly  in  view  furnishes  a  key  to 
the  entire  debate  which  ensued. 

The  question  arose  at  an  opportune  time.  Paul 
and  Barnabas  had  returned  from  the  marvelous 
work  which  God  did  with  them  on  their  first  mis- 
sionary tour.  They  were  in  Antioch  of  Syria  and 
confronted  the  men  who  had  come  down  from  Ju- 
dea  to  teach  in  the  church  that  circumcision  was 
necessary  to  salvation.  That  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
after  long  disputation,  were  unable  to  silence  these 
teachers  shows  that  the  question  at  issue  was 
neither  obvious  nor  absurd.  The  foreign  mission- 
aries could  not  silence  their  Judean  opponents. 
The  reason  is  plain.  The  Scriptures  were  all  on 
the  side  of  the  latter.  To  be  sure,  these  Scriptures 
everywhere  promised  salvation  to  the  heathen. 
No  one  disputed  this.  But  these  same  Scriptures 
were  just  as  explicit    in  making  circumcision    the 


130  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


condition  of  God's  favor  toward  man.  If  Paul 
could  plead  that  Abraham  was  justified  before  he 
was  circumcised,  his  antagonist  could  say,  yes,  but 
after  justification  the  rite  was  divinely  imposed. 
The  inference  would  be  that  the  justified  Gentiles 
now  in  the  church  should  follow  Abraham  as  an 
example  and  receive  the  same  sign.  The  cove- 
nant with  the  patriarch  as  it  stands  in  our  seven- 
teenth chapter  of  Genesis  was  positive,  concluding 
with  the  solemn  words:  "the  uncircumcised  man 
child  whose  flesh  of  his  foreskin  is  not  circumcised, 
that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people;  he  hath 
broken  my  covenant"  (Gen,  xvii.  14).  It  was 
an  ordinance  "forever."  The  patriarch  administered 
it  to  his  whole  household,  including  Ishmael,  to 
"every  male  among  the  men  of  Abraham's  house." 
And  on  what  Scripture  ground  could  the  Gentiles 
whom  Paul  had  led  to  Christ  refuse  the  token  of 
the  covenant  ?  Moreover  without  this  token  they 
were  coming  into  the  church  with  a  decided  advan- 
tage over  the  Jew.  They  were  under  no  ceremo- 
nial restraint.  And  yet  while  the  Old  Testament 
unequivocally  held  out  the  hope  of  Messianic  ben- 
efit to  the  heathen,  it  invariably  teaches  that  when 
that  hope  came  to  fruition  they  were  to  occupy  a 
subordinate  place  in  the  kingdom.  Isaiah  pre- 
dicted to  the  Jew  that  the  sons  of  the  alien  should 
be  his  plowmen  and  vinedressers,  "but  ye  shall  be 
named  the  priests  of  the  Lord"  (lxi.  5,  6).  Zech- 
ariah  prophesied  that  in  the  coming  time  "the  Lord 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION  FOR  GENTILES      131 

will  smite  the  heathen  that  come  not  up  to  keep 
the  feast  of  tabernacles"  (xiv.  18).  They  must  be 
subject  to  this  Jewish  feast.  So  constantly  is  the 
superiority  of  the  Jew  promised  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, that  Paul  in  writing  to  the  Romans  must 
carefully  defend  the  church  order  in  which  the 
Gentile  is  on  a  par  with  the  Jew,  if  not  his  superior. 
If  the  gospel  is  to  rub  out  all  ceremonial  distinc- 
tions and  establish  a  universal  religious  level,  the 
question  "What  advantage  then  hath  the  Jew?"  was 
inevitable.  In  writing  to  Rome  Paul  argues  through 
three  chapters  (ix,  x,  xi)  to  answer  it.  And,  looked 
at  from  this  point  of  view,  this  is  the  question  now 
before  the  meeting  in  Jerusalem,  and  it  is  answered, 
at  least  in  James'  speech,  substantially  as  Paul  re- 
plies to  it  in  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  (xi.  25-27). 
The  problem  was  to  save  both  the  liberty  of  the 
gospel  and  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures.  Anti- 
och  stood  for  the  former,  the  teachers  who  came 
down  from  Jerusalem  for  the  latter.  God's  Spirit 
harmonized  the  two. 

Since  unanimity  of  sentiment  could  not  be  reached 
on  the  Orontes,  "they  determined  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas  and  certain  other  of  them  should  go  up 
unto  the  apostles  and  elders  about  this  question." 
Mark,  it  is  not  said  that  they  were  sent  to  the 
apostles  and  elders  that  these  officers  might  settle 
the  question.  The  Lord  had  not  committed  the 
guidance  of  the  church  affairs  to  men.  The  dele- 
gates travel  through  the  heathen  country  'Phoenicia' 


132  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

and  the  semi-heathen  country,  Samaria; for  had  they 
journeyed  on  Jewish  soil  their  report  from  heathen- 
dom might  not  have  been  so  acceptable.  On  ar- 
riving at  the  Jewish  capital  they  are  formally  re- 
ceived by  the  church  and  its  leaders.  Paul  and 
Silas  report  their  work  among  the  heathen.  A 
number  of  Jewish  believers  who  were  Pharisees,  at 
once  threw  down  the  gauntlet  in  declaring  "that 
it  was  needful  to  circumcise  them  and  to  command 
them  to  keep  the  Law  of  Moses."  Whether  these 
were  genuine  believers  we  need  not  inquire.  They 
were  certainly  sincere  and  conscientious.  The 
question  about  their  faith  would  not  arise  were  it 
not  that  Paul,  in  all  probability  writing  afterward 
about  this  very  meeting,  calls  some  of  its  members 
"false  brethren"  (Gal.  ii.  1-5).  To  all  appearance, 
too,  the  men  who  precipitated  the  question  now  in 
Jerusalem  were  not  the  men  who  started  the  strife 
at  Antioch. 

At  this  stage,  as  it  would  seem,  the  meeting  ad- 
journed to  come  together  subsequently.  Of  this 
second  session  it  is  said  the  apostles  and  elders 
came  together.  The  church  is  not  mentioned. 
But  the  leaders  include  the  followers,  for  the  sub- 
sequent acts  of  this  second  meeting  make  it  cer- 
tain that  the  whole  body  of  believers  participated 
in  them.  The  session  opens  with  a  long  debate. 
There  was  much  disputing.  The  Pharisees  had 
abundant  arguments  and  they  found  full  liberty  to 
present  them.     They  were  in  no    official  position, 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALTATION  FOR  GENTILES      133 

but  they  had  a  voice  in  the  deliberations,  and,  so 
far,  an  equal  standing  with  everyone  else  present. 
Peter  arose.  Will  he  decide  by  his  apostolic  au- 
thority? No,  he  also  resorts  to  argument.  And 
it  is  very  simple.  He  recalls  the  fact  of  his  visit 
to  Cornelius,  but  with  the  direct  assertion  that 
God  sent  him,  that  by  his  mouth  the  Gentiles 
might  hear  the  word  of  the  gospel  and  believe  (v. 
7).  Then  comes  the  proof  proper — God  bore  wit- 
ness to  his  acceptance  of  the  Gentiles  as  Gentiles 
in  that  he  gave  them  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  be- 
stowal was  sunlight  evidence  of  the  divine  will. 
To  deny  it  was  to  tempt  God.  The  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  house  of  Cornelius  blotted  out  the 
distinctive  mark  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  so  that 
there  was  "no  difference.'"  This  gift  settled  the 
question,  so  that  it  was  no  longer  a  matter  of  de- 
bate. God  had  long  ago  shown  his  mind.  But 
Peter  makes  two  points  further,  which  also  show 
how  reasonable  God's  decree  in  the  case  is:  first, 
why  ask  the  Gntiles  to  submit  to  a  system  which 
the  Jew  in  all  history  was  unable  to  endure,  "which 
neither  our  fathers  nor  we  were  able  to  bear." 
Such  a  demand  upon  the  heathen  was  certainly  in- 
defensible, not  to  say  cruel.  Again,  Peter  shows 
that  the  very  Jews  who  had  the  system  comprehend- 
ed under  circumcision  had  to  abandon  it  as  an  in- 
adequate means  of  justification,  and  believe  in 
order  to  be  saved.  Virtually,  they  had  to  become 
Gentiles  so  far  themselves,    and  trust  to  the  grace 


134  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

of  the  Lord,  even   as  the    Gentiles.      Circumcision 
was  inadequate  as  a  condition  of  eternal  life. 

Peter's  argument  must  have  stopped  every 
mouth.  His  question,  "Why  tempt  ye  God?"  after 
he  has  so  clearly  shown  his  will  in  the  gift  to  Cor- 
nelius, must  have  tied  every  tongue.  Peter's 
speech  is  worthy  of  note  in  what  it  does  not  say. 
He  never  once  mentions  the  vision  of  the  sheet 
letdown  from. heaven,  and  the  thrice  repeated 
voice  which  he  heard,  "What  God  has  cleansed 
that  call  not  thou  common  or  unclean."  The  rea- 
son for  his  silence  here  is  clear  enough.  His  per- 
sonal vision  was  primarily  for  himself.  It  was  in- 
tended to  convince  him.  But  what  God  did  pub- 
licly in  the  effusion  of  the  Spirit  in  Caesarea,  was 
for  the  public.  It  could  not  be  denied.  It  was 
an  argument  so  mighty  that  no  other  was  needed. 
Again,  Peter  does  not  stop  to  harmonize  the  stand 
which  he  has  taken  with  what  the  Scriptures 
promised  the  Jew.  His  position  plainly  is  that 
what  God's  Word  says  must  be  learned  in  the  light 
of  what  God  does.  The  divine  act  is  a  higher  court 
than  the  divine  record.  For  while  God,  when  un- 
derstood, is  never  contrary  to  his  Word,  he  is  before 
his  Word,  and  above  his  Word,  and  the  ultimate 
interpreter  of  that  Word.  In  all  this  Peter  was  not 
without  the  very  highest  precedent.  The  wily 
Pharisees  had  laid  a  cunning  snare  for  Jesus  in  the 
question,  "Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his 
wife"  (Mark  x.  2).  If  he  says,  yes,  in  agreement  with 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALTATION  FOR  GENTILES      135 

Moses  (Deut.  xxiv.  t,  2),  he  will  be  in  conflict,  not 
only  with  his  own  forerunner,  who  lost  his  life 
for  his  reproof  of  Herod  on  this  point,  but  in  con- 
flict also  with  the  best  sentiment  of  his  own  times, 
the  sentiment  which  John  reflected.  If  Jesus  says 
no,  do  not  put  away  a  wife,  the  Pharisees  are  sure 
to  retort,  "Why  did  Moses  then  command  to  give  a 
writing  of  divorcement  and  to  put  her  away?"  (Matt. 
xix.  7).  But  the  way  out  of  this  dilemma  lay  open 
before  the  divine  Teacher.  He  appeals  tG  God's 
act  in  the  beginning,  who  made  one  man  and  one 
woman,  and  thereby  indicated  his  will.  Moses' 
law  of  divorce  was  not  in  conflict  with  this,  did  not 
annul  the  legislation  indicated  in  creation,  but 
served  only  as  a  restraint  on  men  who  would  not 
accept  the  monogamous  relation.  Peter  followed 
this  method  effectively  before  the  Pharisees,  who, 
we  may  be  sure,  pleaded  God's  Word  as  a  proof 
that  the  Gentiles  must  be  circumcised.  Only  he 
did  not  go  as  far  as  Jesus,  in  that  he  did  not  take 
up  the  other  side.  Peter  does  not  declare  the 
office  of  circumcision.  Indeed  this  was  not  shown 
in  this  meeting.  Paul's  epistles  first  make  it  plain 
(Rom.     iv.   1 1). 

And  here  we  see  now  clearer  than  ever  why  Pe- 
ter did  not  refer  to  his  wonderful  vision  in  which 
he  heard  the  command,  "Rise,  Peter,  slay  and  eat;" 
"what  God  has  cleansed  that  call  not  thou  common." 
All  this  was  outside  the  scope  of  the  argument 
from  God's  act,  the  argument  which  Peter  used.    It 


1&6  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

would  have  been  no  proof  at  all  to  place  what  God 
said  in  the  vision  against  what  he  said  in  his  Word 
about  circumcision.  Both  statements  must  be  ex- 
plained by  the  ultimate  revelation  of  his  will  in  the 
gift  of  his  Spirit  to  Cornelius. 

Peter's  speech  induced  silence,  and  gave  the 
ears  of  the  assembly  to  Barnabas  and  Paul.  The 
Pharisees  could  object  no  longer.  If  they  were 
not  convinced,  Peter  had  at  least  stopped  their 
mouths.  The  missionaries'  speech  is  of  precisely 
the  same  character  as  that  of  the  chief  of  the 
apostles.  They  did  not  say  they  had  gone  to  the 
heathen  by  the  direct  command  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Their  argument  is  of  the  same  sort  as  Peter's  and 
exactly  in  the  same  line.  "They  declared  what 
miracles  and  wonders  God  had  wrought  among  the 
Gentiles  by  them."  That  God  attended  their  work 
with  supernatural  manifestations  of  his  power  was 
his  unmistakable  approval  of  that  work.  His  acts 
indicated  his  will.  It  will  be  observed  here  that 
the  names  of  the  two  foreign  missionaries  revert  to 
their  old  order,  and  we  read  again  Barnabas  and 
Paul.  We  are  in  Jerusalem,  where  the  new  order 
divinely  instituted  in  the  encounter  with  Elymas 
at  far  away  Paphos,  has  not  had  opportunity  to  take 
root.  That  first  place  which  the  son  of  consola- 
tion had  gained  before  he  left  Judea,  years  ago, 
awaits  him  on  his  return.  This  is  but  a  trifle,  but 
it  has  immense  weight  in  the  proof  of  the  gen- 
uineness and  authenticity  of  this  story.  A  forger 
could  scarcely  have  thought  of  this  trifle. 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION  FOR  GENTILES      137 

James  follows  Barnabas  and  Paul.  His  speech 
presents  the  first  difficulty  found  in  studying  the 
minutes  of  this  meeting.  It  is  a  double  difficulty. 
In  the  first  place  he  resorts  to  what  the  Scriptures 
say,  after  Peter's  superior  argument  from  what 
God  has  done  in  the  matter  in  question.  Must  we 
then  say  the  weaker  argument  came  in  last?  But 
worse  than  all,  when  James'  quotation  from  Amos 
is  considered  it  does  not  appear  to  bear  on  the 
subject  of  debate.  It  predicts  the  salvation  of  the 
heathen,  which  no  one  in  this  meeting  denied,  but 
says  not  one  word  about  the  condition  on  which  that 
salvation  was  to  be  offered,  which  was  the  very 
matter  in  dispute.  Furthermore,  its  leaning  is  to- 
ward the  Pharisaic  side  in  that  it  at  least  implies 
that  the  Gentiles  are  to  be  saved  in  subordination 
to  the  Jews.  The  house  of  David  is  to  be  reared 
up  that  the  residue  of  men  might  seek  the  Lord. 
But  restoring  the  house  of  David  involved  the  res- 
toration of  Israel  along  with  it,  and  so  the  Gentiles 
would  come  in  second  to  Israel. 

But  why  should  it  be  assumed  that  James  is  sup- 
porting Peter's  speech,  that  was  in  itself  conclu- 
sive, and  that  carried  the  day  ?  "All  the  multitude 
kept  silence."  And  how  does  James  support  Peter's 
speech  with  a  passage  of  Scripture  that  does  not 
touch  the  debated  point?  All  difficulties  vanish 
when  it  is  seen  what  James  is  after.  The  Phari- 
sees were  silenced;  they  needed  to  be  soothed. 
The  Scripture  was  still   on  their   side,  and   though 


138  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

they  could  not  reply  to  Peter,  what  should  they 
do  with  that  Scripture?  It  is  not  the  way  of  the 
New  Testament  to  leave  earnest,  honest  men  in 
such  a  state  of  perplexity.  James  proposes  to 
show  that  all  Scripture  which  the  Pharisees  might 
cite  in  favor  of  Jewish  superiority  and  supremacy, 
was  relevant,  but  not  relevant  at  this  time — not 
relevant  in  the  state  of  things  which  God's  Spirit 
had  now  surely  brought  about,  putting  Jew  and 
Gentile  on  the  same  level.  He  begins  by  a  start- 
ling interpretation  of  Peter's  words:  "Simeon  hath 
declared  how  God  at  the  first  did  visit  the  Gen- 
tiles"— for  what?  To  take  the  whole  of  them  as 
is  everywhere  contemplated  in  the  Old  Testament? 
No,  but  to  "take  out  of  them  a  people  for  his  name," 
a  selected  number,  a  discrimination  of  which  the 
Old  Testament  gave  no  hint.  The  hardest  thing 
for  a  patriotic  but  half-enlightened  Jewish  believer 
to  accept  was  this  prediction  of  Jesus  now  surely 
coming  to  pass:  "The  kingdom  of  God  shall  be 
taken  from  you  and  given  to  a  nation  bringing  forth 
the  fruits  thereof"  (Matt.  xxi.  43).  Israel's  day  was 
ending  in  darkness.  They  had  rejected  the  Mes- 
siah, who,  now  enthroned,  was  saving  neither  the 
nation  of  Israel  nor  any  other  nation.  He  was 
creating  a  new  nation  composed  of  individual  be- 
lievers from  all  nations.  Peter  in  his  first  epistle 
expands  this  very  idea.  He  addresses  the  saints 
as  "elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God," 
as  a    "chosen  generation,"  as  a  "holy  nation."    He 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION  FOR  GENTILES      139 

is  not  interpreting  the  idea  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  Old  Testament  does  not  contain  this  idea — an 
elect  body  of  believers  composed  of  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles on  an  equality,  or,  in  other  words,  a  church. 
This  conception  was  first  given  to  Paul  by  revela- 
tion. He  must  have  got  it  before  he  ever  set  out 
to  evangelize  the  heathen.  He  declares  that  "in 
other  ages  it  was  not  made  known  to  the  sons  of 
men,"  that  "the  Gentiles  should  be  fellow  heirs 
and  of  the  same  body  and  partakers  of  his  promise 
in  Christ  by  the  gospel"  (Eph.  iii.  5,  6).  Now, 
the  former  ages  knew  very  well  that  the  Gentiles 
should  be  saved,  and  the  prophets  of  those  ages 
clearly  predicted  the  fact.  But  they  did  not  know 
of  the  birth  of  a  church  meanwhile  in  which  Israel 
was  to  have  no  special  distinction,  because  in  this 
church  Gentiles  were  "fellow  heirs  and  of  the  same 
body"  (Eph.  iii  6).  James  says  that  Peter  is  de- 
claring this  new  and  unpredicted  thing.  And  since 
the  Old  Testament  did  not  contemplate  it,  how 
could  quotations  from  that  source  be  found  to  bear 
on  it? 

But  Paul  (Rom.  xvi.  25,  26)  seems  to  teach  that 
this  was  foretold.  The  passage  reads: — "The  reve- 
lation of  the  mystery  which  was  kept  secret  since 
the  world  began  but  now  is  made  manifest  and  by 
the  Scriptures  of  the  prophets  (is)  made  known." 
But  can  Paul  contradict  himself  in  one  and  the 
same  breath?  Can  he  declare  that  a  thing  has 
been  kept  secret,  "secret  since   the   world  began," 


i4o  The  acts  of  the  apostles 


the  Scriptures  of  the  prophets?"  The  rendering  is 
at  fault,  both  in  the  King  James'  and  in  the  Revised 
version.  The  word  "prophet"  is  not  in  the  origi- 
nal, neither  the  article  "the".  T.  S.  Green's 
translation  (Twofold  New  Test.  )  is  correct: — "ac- 
cording to  the  revealing  of  the  mystery  hushed  in 
all  time  but  now  manifested  and  through  prophetic 
Scriptures  made  known."  Paul  is  referring  to 
his  own  writings  and  dignifies  them  with  the  epi- 
thet "prophetic."  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians  (iii.  3,4)  he  calls  especial  attention  to  a  letter 
of  his  on  this  point.  Rightly  interpreted,  not  only 
does  all  contradiction  disappear  from  the  passage 
in  Romans,  and  the  word  "now"  get  significance, 
but  the  passage  itself  declares  that  that  relation 
of  Jew  and  Gentile  which  confronted  the  founders 
of  the  church  was  first  revealed  to  them. 

When  Peter's  speech  is  explained  and  its  signifi- 
cance shown,  James  brings  in  his  quotation:  — 
"after  these  things  I  will  return,"  etc.  After  what 
things?  for  the  original  is  plural.  After  God's 
elective  visit  to  the  nations,  and  his  creation  of  a 
church.  It  is  not  after  the  days  of  Amos  but  after 
the  days  of  Israel's  rejection  and  desolation  and 
of  a  completed  church.  For  the  prophet  did  not 
use  the  words  "after  these  things."  They  appear 
to  belong  to  James.  They  are  his  explanation  of 
the  prediction  in  so  far  as  they  show  to  what  period 
it  applies.      The  time  had  not  yet  come  for  the  ful- 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION  FOR  GENTILES      141 

fillment  of  this  prediction.  When  the  church  has 
reached  its  complement  then  the  Lord  will  return 
from  visiting  the  Gentiles  and  rear  up  the  fallen 
house  of  David,  when  not  an  elect  number  merely, 
but  "all  the  Gentiles"  shall  seek  the  Lord,  a  bless- 
ing still  in  the  future.  Now  this  would  satisfy  the 
Pharisees.  They  were  satisfied,  for  the  meeting 
came  to  a  unanimous  verdict.  They  could  see  how 
James'  interpretation  of  Peter's  speech  "agreed" 
with  the  words  of  the  prophets,  of  whom,  how- 
ever, he  quoted  but  one.  The  agreement  consisted 
in  this,  that  there  was  no  conflict  when  all  Scripture 
was  properly  referred.  If  the  quotation  from 
Amos  said  nothing  about  circumcision,  the  very 
thing  that  had  caused  the  present  dissension, 
why,  no  matter.  Amos  was  not  speaking  of  the 
present,  and  that  is  all  that  James  set  out  to  show. 
When  the  time  foretold  by  Amos  dawns,  it  will 
bring  the  light  in  which  to  solve  the  discussions 
that      such  a  period  may  awaken. 

The  words  of  Amos  conclude  with  the  assertion 
that  the  Lord  does  these  things.  The  readings 
vary,  but  this  is  the  sense  of  any  of  them.  Now, 
for  James  to  quote  such  words  in  the  sense  that 
the  Lord  would  save  the  Gentiles,  is  pointless. 
But  to  quote  them  as  indicating  that  the  Lord 
was  gathering  out  a  church  was  to  claim  a  divine 
foundation  for  it,  and  to  put  the  passage  in  accord 
with  James'  interpretation  of  Peter.  Scripture 
was  not  needed  to  prove   Gentile   salvation,  but  it 


142  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

was  helpful  to  say  that  the  Lord  was  the  author 
of  such  a  state  of  things  as  had  arise*n  among  the 
believers,  in  which  Jew  and  Gentile  were  not  dis- 
tinguished. 

James  now  proposes  the  resolution  which  car- 
ries. His  language  is  consistent  with  his  insight 
into  Peter's  speech.  He  does  not  say,  Let  us  not 
trouble  the  Gentiles,  but,  Let  us  not  trouble  them 
which  from  "among  the  Gentiles"  are  turning  to 
God.  And  the  principle  having  been  now  settled, 
James  proposes,  as  a  matter  of  policy,  that  the 
Gentile  believers  be  instructed  to  abstain  from  meat 
that  had  been  used  in  idol  worship,  from  blood, 
and  from  fornication.  This  inhibition  was  made 
in  deference  to  the  Jews.  Moses,  read  every  Sab- 
bath day  in  the  synagogue,  forbade  such  things. 
And  the  conscience  of  those  who  followed  him  in 
rites  must  not  be  offended  by  those  who  followed 
Christ.  A  singular  feature  in  James'  resolution  is 
that  it  includes  one  positive  sin  with  matters  that 
are  in  themselves  indifferent.  He  forbids  a  moral 
breach  along  with  others  that  are  only  cere- 
monial. But  the  solution  is  easy.  The  Greeks 
did  not  look  with  the  Jew's  abhorrence  upon  for- 
nication. The  sin  was  so  common  among  the 
heathen  that  they  had  lost  all  conscience  about 
it.  And  in  the  prohibition  now  laid  upon  them 
they  would  not  feel  any  theological  difficulty.  The 
things  which  they  must  observe  would  be  to 
them  alike  ceremonial  or  alike  moral.  The  distinc- 
tion would  not  appear. 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION  FOR  GENTILES      143 

In  sending  messengers  and  the  circular  letter  to 
the  churches  among  the  Gentiles,  everybody  con- 
curred. The  record  declares:  "Then  pleased 
it  the  apostles  and  elders  with  the  whole 
church"  (v.  22).  But  there  is  some  question 
whether  the  letter  itself  bore  the  names  of  any  but 
the  apostles  and  elders.  In  our  King  James'  ver- 
sion it  begins:  "The  apostles  and  elders  and 
brethren  send  greeting."  But  some  textual  critics 
hold  that  the  second  "and"  is  an  interpolation,  and 
ought  to  be  rejected  from  the  reading.  The  recent 
Revision,  with  others,  makes  the  verse  read:  "the 
apostles  and  elder  brethren."  The  King  James' 
reading  has  not  the  weightiest  manuscript  author- 
ity in  its  favor.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  Thomas 
Sheldon  Green  admits  the  word  in  translating  the 
phrase,  "the  apostles  and  the  elders  and  the  breth- 
ren." Meyer,  in  his  commentary,  says  the  "and" 
was  dropped  from  the  manuscripts  for  "hierarchical" 
reasons.  Internal  evidence  is  all  in  its  favor. 
The  whole  story  shows  that  the  church  acted.  In 
the  debate  no  one  spoke  as  an  officer.  Even  the 
chief  of  the  apostles  was  not  called  Peter  while  on 
the  floor,  but  Simeon,  his  personal  name.  More- 
over, to  make  the  letter  the  words  of  none  but  apos- 
tles and  elders  or  elder  brethren  introduces  into  it 
contradiction  and  confusion.  They  say  that  those 
who  caused  the  trouble  in  Antioch  "went  out  from 
us."  Went  out  from  the  apostles  and  elders? 
Agaij?  in  the  twenty-fifth  verse,  which  the  Revision 


144  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

renders:  "It  seemed  good  to  us,  having  come  to 
one  accord,  to  choose  out  men  and  send  to  you — " 
in  this  verse  do  the  apostles  and  elders  claim  that 
they  sent  out  the  messengers?  But  we  are  unmis- 
takably informed  in  the  twenty-second  verse  that 
these  messengers  were  sent  by  the  church  as  well. 
And  did  only  the  apostles  and  elders  "come  to  one 
accord?"  There  'never  was  any  discord  among 
them.  The  difference  of  opinion  was  among  the 
brethren.  To  all  appearances  the  "and"  ought  to 
be  retained.  The  letter  was  from  the  church  in 
Jerusalem.  But  few  notes  are  needed  on  the  let- 
ter itself.  It  is  fraternally  addressed  to  the  "breth- 
ren" that  are  of  the  Gentiles.  In  it  we  learn  for 
the  first  time  of  churches  in  Cilicia,  Paul's  native 
country.  The  letter  asserts  in  plain  words  that 
while  the  troublers  of  Antioch  came  from  Jerusa- 
lem, they  were  not  sent  by  the  church.  They 
had  no  credentials  but  their  own  mistaken  zeal. 
The  letter  asserts,  too,  that  unanimity  of  senti- 
ment was  reached  in  considering  the  question  at 
issue,  and  calls  Barnabas  and  Paul — note  the  order 
again — "beloved,"  and  speaks  of  them  and  their 
missionary  work  in  the  very  highest  terms.  Judas 
and  Silas  go  along  to  attest  the  letter  and  to  con- 
firm its  sentiments.  And  just  before  the  words  of 
the  decree,  in  the  quietest  manner  possible,  the 
letter  gleams  with  a  phrase  every  way  sublime:  — 
"For  it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to 
us."     These  words  (xv.  28)   place  the  church  with 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION  FOR  GENTILES      145 

its  leaders  on  the  same  high  throne  occupied  by  the 
august  third  Person  in  the  Godhead.  They  legis- 
lated along  with  him,  conscious  of  their  exalted 
dignity  and  divine  fellowship.  This  phrase  stamps 
the  letter  with  all  authority. 

The  two  chosen  men,  with  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
quickly  reach  Antioch.  All  were  no  doubt  glad 
that  that  which  has  disturbed  the  Gentile  brethren 
was  settled  at  the  local  source  of  the  evil.  Jeru- 
salem and  Antioch  were  now  one  in  sentiment. 
The  delivery  of  the  letter  brought  joy  and  conso- 
lation to  those  to  whom  it  first  came.  Judas  and 
Silas  exhorted.  Their  theme  can  only  be  surmised. 
Possibly  they  entreated  the  church  to  observe  with 
scrupulous  care  the  things  enjoined  in  the  letter 
from  Jerusalem.  When  their  mission  was  accom- 
plished they  both  returned  to  Jerusalem,  as  the 
thirty-third  verse  discloses.  The  thirty-fourth 
verse  is  spurious.  It  crept  in  to  account  for  that 
presence  of  Silas  in  Antioch  mentioned  in  the  for- 
tieth verse.  Without  the  thirty-fourth  verse  it 
may  be  reasonably  assumed  that  as  soon  as  Silas 
had  made  his  report  to  the  church  in  Jerusalem  he 
returned  to  Antioch. 

The  section  closes  with  the  statement  that  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  in  connection  with  many  other 
teachers,  now  spent  some  time  peacefully  instruct- 
ing the  saints  in  Antioch.  There  is  no  further  note 
here  of  the  success  that  always  follows  a  stage 
gained  in  the  progress  of   the  church.     That   note. 


14G  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

comes  in  logically  further  on  (xvi.  5)  and  is  not  for- 
gotten. The  "many  others"  who  assisted  Paul 
and  Barnabas  in  Antioch  suggest  the  size  of  the 
church,  the  value  of  teaching  those  who  have  be- 
lieved, and  the  disproportion  between  the  number 
of  those  who  remained  at  home  to  preach  the 
gospel,  and  of  those  who  went  abroad. 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM     14' 


SECTION  XIV 

THE  GOSPEL  IN  TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT 
WITH     HEATHENISM 

Acts.  xv.  j6 — xviii.  22 

The'  inspired  writer  has  now  led  to  the  point 
where  the  church  is  established  and  its  character 
determined.  He  has  showed  the  successive  stages 
by  which  this  consummation  was  reached.  Through 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  ascended  Lord 
has  brought  Jew  and  Gentile  into  one  body,  united 
by  nothing  but  the  common  possession  of  the 
Spirit,  and  having  no  head  but  himself.  It  only 
remains  to  tell  how  this  body  spread  abroad  and 
became  the  light  of  the  world.  It  came  to  its  full 
growth  not  in  Jerusalem,  but  in  Antioch,  whose 
church  now  is  the  model  of  all  the  rest.  Peter 
has  been  mentioned  for  the  last  time  in  the  story. 
Jerusalem  and  James  recede,  and  Paul,  the  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  comes  to  occupy  the  whole  field. 

In  this  section  Luke  shows  how  the  gospel  burst 
its  Asiatic  limits  and  entered  Europe.  The  Lord 
clearly  led.  He  delivers  his  ministers  from  vari- 
ous forms  of  persecution,  he  brings  the  truth  face 
to  face  with  the  world's  highest  wisdom,  devel- 
oped by  the  Grecian  philosophers,  and  finally  es- 
tablishes that  truth  unmolested  in  distant  Corinth. 


148  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

There  is  an  air  of  triumph,  of  success  in  the  piece. 
There  are  no  long  speeches,  little  about  work,  but 
much  about  dangerous  situations  from  which  the 
Lord  delivers  his  servants. 

This  second  missionary  tour,  covering  the  years 
from  51  to  54,  does  not  come  about  as  the  first  one 
did.  There  God  spoke  and  ordered.  Here  man 
proposed.  Paul  said  to  Barnabas,  Let  us  go  (xv. 
36).  The  dissension  which  arose  between  them 
and  led  to  a  separation,  serves  to  show  how  God 
can  carry  on  his  work  in  spite  of  human  frailty. 
It  is  in  vain  to  inquire  who  was  to  blame  in  this 
difference  of  opinion.  That  point  is  not  even  hint- 
ed at  in  the  story.  Mark's  failure  some  years 
earlier  (xiii.  13)  was  the  occasion  of  this  separation 
of  chief  friends.  But  though  they  separated,  God's 
work  went  on.  Barnabas  took  Mark  and  set  out 
and  neither  of  them  is  mentioned  again  in  the 
book.  This  leaves  Paul  without  a  fellow  traveler. 
He  selects  Silas,  and  goes  away  with  the  blessing 
of  the  church.  The  contention  was  earnest,  each 
held  tenaciously  to  his  view,  but  it  was  not  acri- 
monious. It  did  not  spread  into  the  church,  per- 
il? (js  the  church  did  not  learn  much  about  it,  nor 
did  it  destroy  the  friendship  of  the  persons  engaged 
in  the  contention.  Only  where  God's  Spirit  leads 
can  earnest  men  walk  together,  but  even  when  they 
must  part  God  may  use  both  for  his  glory.  He 
does  his  work  through  fallible  men  (James  v.  17). 
In  due  time  in  this  journey  God  gives  Paul  the 
clearest  guidance, 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM     149 

The  first  episode  in  Paul's  second  journey  is  the 
call  of  Timothy.  He  was  of  mixed  parentage,  his 
mother  being  a  Jewess,  his  father  a  heathen. 
Plainly  Timothy  became  a  Christian  in  Paul's  first 
tour  through  those  parts,  three  or  four  years  pre- 
vious. He  was  Paul's  "own  son  in  the  faith"  (I 
Tim.  i  2)  and  was  a  witness  of  his  work  and 
suffering  on  that  earlier  journey  (II  Tim.  iii.  11).  In 
those  few  years  Timothy  had  made  a  reputation 
not  only  in  Lystra,  but  in  Iconium  (xvi.  2).  He 
had  become  known  in  both  churches,  and  was  "well 
reported  of."  It  was  this  good  report  that  attract- 
ed Paul.  His  commendation  by  the  "brethren" 
made  it  safe  to  choose  him  for  a  companion  in 
more  extensive  work. 

It  is  significant  that  in  this,  the  only  detailed  call 
to  the  ministry  in  the  book,  not  a  word  is  said  about 
the  candidate's  talents,  not  a  word  about  his 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.  The  only  point  em- 
phasized is  that  Timothy  had  the  approval  of  those 
who  knew  him.  And  it  was  to  this  man  that  Paul 
afterwards  wrote  to  follow  this  same  course  for  the 
ministry — -"lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man"  (I  Tim. 
v.  22).  There  was,  however,  one  hindrance  in 
Timothy's  way.  The  Jews  were  not  yet  prepared 
everywhere  to  receive  an  uncircumcised  leader. 
There  was  no  objecting  to  Timothy  as  a  member 
of  the  body,  but  to  take  him  into  the  office  of 
teacher  might  arouse  prejudice,  and  so  Paul,  in  de- 
ference to  that  prejudice,  circumcised  the   young 


150  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

disciple.  What  was  not  necessary,  even  hurtful  as 
a  ground  of  salvation,  was  demanded  as  a  qualifi- 
cation for  public  service.  As  the  Samaritans  proved 
to  be  a  sort  of  halfway  house  between  the  Jewish 
and  Gentile  believers,  so  Timothy,  half  Jew  and 
half  heathen,  unlatched  the  door  that  was  by  and  by 
swung'wide  open  for  the  entrance  of  pure  Gentile 
converts  into  the  ministry.  And  the  ceremonial 
sin  of  his  mother  in  marrying  a  heathen  was  over- 
ruled by  God  to  his  glory.  The  choice  of  Timothy 
indicated  also  that  as  the  Lord  accepted  the  hea- 
then he  would  raise  up  among  them  the  men  to  ex- 
pound to  them  the  truth. 

What  it  must  have  cost  Eunice  to  give  up  such  a 
son  as  Timothy,  is  not  noticed.  The  gospel  every- 
where is  one  of  fact  rather  than  sentiment.  The 
missionary  company  go  now  from  church  to  church 
delivering  copies  of  the  decree  lately  secured  in 
Jerusalem.  If  the  trouble  which  had  arisen  in  the 
Syrian  Antioch  had  not  yet  spread  to  these  north- 
west churches,  the  decree  would  prevent  its  ever 
doing  so.  And  here  the  proper  place  is  found  to 
record  the  happy  effects  of  the  conclusion  reached 
in  Jerusalem.  When  the  knowledge  is  disseminat- 
ed that  the  gospel  is  not  bound  by  Jewish  fetters, 
the  writer  tells  us  that  the  churches  were  estab- 
lished in  the  faith,  and  believers  were  daily  added 
(v.  5).  The  body,  without  the  missionary's  pres- 
ence, increased  itself  in  love. 

We   follow  the  apostle   and  his   company   now 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM     151 

with  great  rapidity  through  many  countries  (vs.  6-8) 
until  we  stand  on  the  narrow  stretch  of  water  sep- 
arating the  East  from  the  West.  The  record,  in 
its  haste,  does  not  inform  us  that  the  Galatians 
were  evangelized  at  this  time.  Europe  is  the  goal. 
That  God  led  thither  appears  in  that  we  are  twice 
told  (vs.  6,  7)  that  the  Holy  Spirit  forbade  further 
work  in  the  Orient.  Paul  had  set  out  at  his  own 
devoted  instance  to  do  a  work  which  is  now  com- 
pleted. He  has  visited  the  churches,  but  is  now 
at  sea,  without  chart  or  compass.  Bat  the  Spirit 
that  only  hindered  in  Asia,  now  clearly  beckoned 
to  Macedonia.  No  mistake  was  made  in  interpret- 
ing the  vision,  for  they  who  for  weeks  had  been 
going  hither  and  thither  without  guidance,  now 
come  with  a  "straight  course"  in  the  short  space 
of  two  days  to  the  western  continent   (v.    n). 

The  pen  that  has  fled  with  speed  over  wide  ex- 
tended districts,  leaving  but  few  lines  behind,  now 
drops  into  the  slowest  pace.  For  we  have  reached 
the  place  where  the  advance  begins  over  all  that 
was  gained  before.  Summaries  are  abandoned  and 
details  become  numerous. 

The  gospel  had  a  very  humble,  a  very  unosten- 
tatious beginning  in  Europe,  but  since  it  is  the  be- 
ginning Luke  makes  a  full  record.  There  was  no 
voice  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  no  tongue  of 
flame,  heralding  that  which  in  a  very  few  centuries 
transformed  the  Greek  and  the  Roman.  There 
was  a  woman's  prayer  meeting  Saturday  morning 


152  TUB  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

on  the  banks  of  the  Gangas  at  Philippi,  and  thither 
the  missionary  company  wended  their  way  and  sat 
down.  Judaism  was  so  feeble  in  this  city  that  there 
was  no  synagogue  to  furnish  it  shelter,  and  no 
men  to  pay  it  the  homage  of  their  support.  Wo- 
men are  the  last  to  fail  in  devotion  to  God  and 
among  these  women  the  regeneration  of  a  continent 
took  its  start  (v.    13). 

There  is  one  word  in  the  description  of  Philippi 
that  is  instructive.  We  are  told  that  it  was  a  "col- 
ony"— a  colony  not  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
word;  it  is  descriptive  of  the  form  of  government. 
Philippi  was  Rome  reproduced,  a  little  Rome, 
with  officers,  laws,  privileges,  and  spirit  similar  to 
those  of  the  capital  itself.  It  was  a  model  of  the 
mother  government.  So  far  then  the  gospel  comes 
in  contact  here  with  the  world's  center.  Its  en- 
trance into  Philippi,  its  conflict,  and  its  fortunes 
are  indicative  of  what  it  must  meet  in  its  high- 
est reach.  Its  victory  here  is  a  pledge  of  its  final 
triumph.  If  the  lake  gives  back  the  sunlight,  the 
ocean  will  do  no  less.  Luke  intended,  when  he 
informed  us  that  Philippi  was  a  colony,  that  his 
account  should  prefigure  the  work  in  Rome. 

Lydia  was  the  first  fruits  of  Macedonia.  On 
this  account  we  learn  her  name,  her  business,  the 
place  of  her  birth  and  her  religious  condition.  She 
was  a  proselyte.  Had  she  been  a  Jewess,  the 
phrase,  she  "worshiped  God,"  would  not  have 
been  used.   But  the  next  item  (v.  14)  added  in  the 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM     15S 

story  cannot  be  accounted  for  in  a  word— the  Lord 
"opened"  Lydia's  heart  in  order  that  she  might  at- 
tend to  the  things,  believe  the  things  spoken  by 
Paul.  The  seed  was  made  fruitful  by  the  direct  ac- 
tion of  the  divine  grace  upon  the  soil  where  it  was 
scattered.  Without  this  grace  it  would  have  been 
a  wayside  effort.  It  was  a  sincere  and  reverent 
woman,  engaged  in  the  solemn  devotions  of  a  prayer 
meeting,  whose  heart  must  be  opened  to  make  the 
preaching  of  the  Word  effective.  Must  it  not  be 
said  then  of  all  who  have  thus  far  become  be- 
lievers, that  they  have  had  the  same  direct,  gracious 
assistance  from  God's  Spirit?  And  why  were  we 
not  informed  until  now  of  this  fact?  The  seal  of 
obstinacy  and  sin  on  thousands  of  hearts  has  been 
broken  by  the  power  of  God  that  his  Word  might 
enter  in,  but  Luke  has  not  mentioned  any  case 
until  the  present  one.  Lydia  is  the  first  convert 
of  Europe.  She  is,  so  to  speak,  a  pattern  of  all  that 
are  to  follow.  Paul  will  be  used  in  making  con- 
verts, but  he  will  not  make  them.  His  preaching 
will  be  necessary,  it  will  be  convincing,  but  those 
who  are  turned  to  God  will  find  that  their  faith 
does  not  stand  on  the  persuasive  words  of  man's 
wisdom,  but  in  the  power  of  God.  They  will  be 
begotten  of  God.  It  is  here  we  learn  that  a  phrase 
soon  afterward  used  by  Paul  in  his  first  letter  to  the 
Thessalonians,  has  deepest  significance.  He  ad- 
dresses the  Thessalonians  as  the  church  which  is 
"in  God."     And  we  see  now  that  converts    do  not 


154  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

become  such  by  adopting  a  new  faith,  but  by  ex- 
periencing a  new  creation.  God  saves  men.  The 
artist  arranges  his  plate  and  adjusts  it  to  the 
object  to  be  pictured.  But,  until  he  can  have 
the  sun's  rays,  he  can  have  no  picture,  and 
when  he  gains  one  it  is  rightly  called  a  pho- 
tograph. The  light  made  it,  not  he.  Paul  can 
adjust  the  gospel  to  the  hearer,  and  bring  his 
heart  before  the  truth.  The  truth  is  printed  on 
that  heart,  because  God  acts  upon  it,  and  in  a 
vastly  higher  sense  the  believer  is  a  photograph, 
the  light  lines  being  graven  on  the  inner  man  by 
the  Spirit.  And  thus  Luke  gives  us  a  conception 
of  the  Christian  which  he  had  not  presented  be- 
fore. From  the  beginning  of  the  book  there  are 
three  stages  in  this  matter.  At  first  we  read,  they 
who  receive  the  Word,  or,  they  believed.  The  next 
stage  was,  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life 
believed,  or,  God  did  visit  the  Gentiles  to  take  out 
of  them  a  people.  Here  it  is,  God  opened  the 
heart  that  Lydia  might  believe.  There  is  no  con- 
tradiction in  the  book  on  this  point,  but  there  is 
development.  In  noting  the  work  of  the  risen 
Lord  it  was  first  observed  that  men  believed.  It 
was  not  long  until  it  was  seen  that  this  belief  was 
confined  to  certain  individuals.  And  now  it  is 
learned  that  when  those  individuals  believe,  God's 
Spirit  is  acting  upon  their  heart. 

Since  the  beginning  of  a  new  stage  finds  record 
here  we  have  some  repetitions  of  features  seen  be- 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      155 

fore.  Years  have  passed  away,  the  gospel  has 
spread  far  and  wide,  but  baptism  has  not  been 
mentioned  since  the  story  looked  at  Peter  in  the 
household  of  Cornelius.  When  the  Gentile  work 
began  it  was  necessary  to  show  that  baptism 
would  attend  it,  but  after  that  mention  there  is 
no  other  until  we  come  to  the  household  of  Lydia 
and  of  the  jailer.  For  here  again  we  are  at  the 
center  of  a  new  circle.  Again,  at  Pentecost  the 
new  converts  exhibited  an  unparalleled  hospitality. 
They  had  all  things  common  and  did  eat  their 
meat  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart.  When 
Levi  the  publican  was  chosen  to  follow  Christ  (Luke 
v.  22-79),  he  showed  his  joy  in  making  the  Saviour 
a  feast.  When  Peter  opened  the  door  of  the  king- 
dom to  Cornelius  we  read  that  the  apostle  did  eat 
with  him,  after  which  there  is  no  special  note  about 
entertainment,  until  Lydia  in  her  new-found  life 
urged  the  Lord's  messengers  to  make  her  dwelling 
their  home.  Where  they  had  stopped  in  Philippi 
up  to  this  time  we  do  not  know.  The  gospel  now 
provided  a  shelter  for  them.  That  they  seem  to 
have  hesitated  in  accepting  Lydia' s  offer  serves 
only  to  bring  her  sincerity  into  clearer  light.  She 
constrained  them. 

Samaria  triumphed  over  Simon  Magus.  Paphos 
left  Elymas  groping  in  blindness.  The  strong  man 
armed  is  again  encountered,  only  to  suffer  the 
spoil  of  another  of  his  chattels.  The  meeting  of 
an  evil  spirit  on  the  entrance  of  the  gospel  to  Eu- 


156  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

rope,  is  in  harmony  with  the  cases  above  cited,  is 
in  harmony  with  the  hindrances  of  the  divine  grace 
toward  men  from  the  dawn  of  their  history.  Satan 
blocks  the  way  as  soon  as  it  is  entered.  The  fact 
of  a  distinct  possession  in  the  case  before  us  can- 
not be  explained  away,  except  in  the  prejudgment 
of  the  impossibility  of  satanic  activity  in  human 
affairs.  This  female  slave  had  a  power  that  was 
peculiarly  profitable  to  her  owners.  They  recog- 
nized that  ability.  When  Paul  commanded  the 
spirit  to  come  out  of  her,  these  same  owners  saw  that 
their  slave's  power  was  gone.  They  had  no  hope 
of  further  gain,  for  she  had  no  further  supernatural 
power.  Says  Alford:  "All  attempts  to  explain 
away  such  a  narrative  as  this  by  the  subterfuges  of 
rationalism,  as,  for  example,  in  Meyer  and  even 
Lewin,  i.  243,  and  apparently  Hackett,  p.  222,  is 
more  than  ever  futile."  Com  in  loc.  The  woman 
was  said  to  have  a  spirit  of  divination.  It  was  the 
spirit  of  the  Pythian  Apollo,  the  heathen  god  of 
this  name.  By  this  term  Luke  gives  us  to  know 
that  Satan  was  encountered  here,  not  as  he  mani- 
fested himself  in  Judea  in  Jesus'  day,  but  as  he 
wrought  in  heathendom.  These  possessions,  so 
often  noted  in  the  sacred  record,  belonged,  perhaps, 
exclusively  to  that  day.  They  may  have  passed 
away,  but  he  who  caused  them  has  not.  Certain 
ancient  sins  have  ceased,  but  sin  has  not.  Satan  is 
full  of  "devices"  (II  Cor.  ii,  11).  He  has  not  ab- 
dicated his  throne.      His  method  may  vary,  it  was 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM     157 

one  thing  then,  it  is  another   now,  but   he  is    ever 
the  same,  the  enemy  of  all  truth.      As  the  mission- 
aries went  to  the  place  for  prayer  (v.    16)  from  day 
to  day,  the  possessed  girl  assailed  them.    At  length 
Paul,  deeply  grieved  at  this  depraved  exhibition  of 
power,  cast  the   spirit  out.      Her    masters,  for  she 
had  been  too  valuable  to  be  owned  by    one    man, 
and  was  the  property  of  a  company,  saw  that  their 
business  was  ruined.      It  was  not  difficult  for  them 
to  raise  a  riot.      The  cruel  Roman  scourge,  unmer- 
cifully applied  to  the  backs  of  Paul    and  Silas,  fol- 
lowed, and  they  are  cast  into  prison.    But  the  gos- 
pel still   triumphs.      They   who   had   subdued   the 
spirit  of  Python  were  not  subdued  in    spirit  them- 
selves.     With  smarting,  bleeding  backs,  with  their 
feet  fast  in  the  stocks,  with  the  dungeon    darkness 
of  the   inner   prison  to  stifle   them,    and   with    no 
promise  of  any  release  on  the  morrow,  their  voices 
rung  out  in  tuneful   worship   of   God.      When    the 
Jewish   authorities   arrested   Peter   and  John,    the 
place  was  shaken  in  answer  to  the  apostles'  prayers. 
A     much    more    terrible    shaking    followed     here. 
The    earthquake    was   not    a    mere   coincidence. 
There  was  more  here.      Earthquakes  do  not  throw 
all   bolted   doors   open,    and    unclasp   fetters    and 
chains.   God  was  here.      He  was  breaking  a    way 
for  his  gospel  to  the   heart   of   heathendom.      But 
his  mercy  followed  close  in  the  heavy    steps  of  his 
power.  The  jailer,  like  a  true  Roman,  was  about  to 
execute  himself  for  the  loss  of  his -prisoners,  as  he 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


supposed.      Paul    arrests    his  attempt.     The  mar- 
velous story  of  his  conversion  follows. 

Pentecost  had  mostly  to  deal  with  devout  men. 
Cornelius  was  grand  in  his  uprightness.  Lydia 
was  a  worshiper  of  God.  No  convert  from  crimin- 
ality has  been  mentioned  thus  far.  But  here  is  a 
man  who  last  night  was  glad  to  see  Paul  and  Silas 
brutally  beaten,  a  man  who  wantonly  made  their 
feet  fast  in  the  stocks,  but  who  now  before  day- 
light is  tenderly  washing  their  wounds,  is  feeding 
and  comforting  them,  and  who  with  all  his  house 
is  rejoicing  in  the  Lord  he  just  now  despised. 
Peter's  speech  in  the  house  of  Cornelius — "He  that 
feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted 
of  him" —  that  speech  will  not  fit  in  this  case.  The 
jailer  had  not  feared  God.  The  gospel  is  going  on 
to  greater  triumphs.  It  has  a  power  to  win  "both 
bad  and  good"  (Matt.  xxii.  10).  But  there  remains 
another  victory  for  the  apostles.  Satan  is  van- 
quished. The  solid  earth  moved  to  do  its  part. 
God  has  converted  a  household.  But  what  if  the 
government  shall  still  oppose?  Paul  and  Silas,  it 
must  be  assumed,  returned  to  the  prison  after  the 
baptism  of  the  jailer's  household,  and  the  hospit- 
able supper  which  followed.  In  the  morning  the 
jailer  receives  from  the  two  praetors,  who  ruled 
the  city,  the  curt  command:  "Let  those  men  go." 
(v.  35.)  This  was  sufficiently  vague  where  the 
jail  was  full  of  prisoners.  Why  should  the  mag- 
istrates suppose  their  message  would   be   under- 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      159 

stood?  And  how  comes  it  that  it  was  understood? 
Of  course  the  jailer  had  heard  a  voice  in  the  rum- 
ble of  the  earthquake  that  spoke  only  of  Paul  and 
Silas.  But  the  civil  authorities  it  seems  heard  that 
same  voice.  Paul  and  Silas  roused  all  their  fears, 
and  they  could  think  of  no  one  else.  Their  com- 
mand was  after  all  not  curt.  It  was  the  short 
gasp  of  terror,  the  conviction  that  these  men  were 
divine  messengers.  It  is  sometimes  asked  why  did 
not  Paul,  before  he  was  beaten,  at  least  before  this 
morning  hour,  announce  that  he  was  a  Roman  cit- 
izen. That  would  have  saved  him  all  pains.  The 
answer  is  easy.  In  God's  providence  it  was  not 
Rome's  defensive  law  of  its  freeman  that  was  to 
bring  down  the  haughty  magistrates'  pride.  That 
was  God's  own  work.  The  magistrates  were  virtu- 
ally at  the  feet  of  Paul  and  Silas  before  they  knew 
them  to  be  the  state's  sons,  shielded  by  their  civil 
allegiance.  God  had  struck  terror  to  the  heart  of 
the  nation's  officials,  and  thus  gave  witness  to  his 
ministers  and  to  us  that  the  powers  that  be  cannot 
bar  the  truth. 

But  while  Paul  and  Silas  now  are  at  liberty  to 
go,  they  make  a  stand  for  their  rights.  Paul  de- 
clares their  Roman  citizenship,  and  brings  the  very 
embarrassing  charge  that  the  laws  have  been  out- 
raged in  the  public  beating  inflicted.  Such  pun- 
ishment of  a  Roman  citizen  was  the  greatest  mis- 
demeanor. By  their  hasty  action  the  magistrates 
had  involved  themselves   in  a  humiliating  predica- 


160  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


merit.  We  have  seen  why  Paul  did  not  make  his 
free-born  privilege  known  before.  Why  does  he 
make  such  point  of  it  now?  He  is  offered  his 
discharge  from  custody,  but  refuses  to  accept  it. 
It  explains  nothing  to  say  that  Paul  had  the 
welfare  of  the  church  in  mind.  If  he  goes  away 
without  an  acknowledgment  of  wrong  from  the 
officers,  and  without  an  official  acquittal,  the  church 
which  is  left  behind  might  suffer  the  taunt  that  its 
founders,  Paul  and  Silas,  broke  jail  and  became 
fugitives  from  justice.  But  Luke  gives  no  hint 
of  any  such  reason  for  Paul's  stand.  And  if  the 
apostle  wished  to  provide  a  shield  for  the  newly 
founded  church,  was  not  the  humbling  and  anger- 
ing of  the  rulers  the  very  worst  way  to  do  it? 
Paul  was  already  vindicated.  He  already  had  his 
release  at  the  hands  of  the  city  authorities.  If 
they  should  ever  raise  the  slander  that  he  had  run 
away  from  the  punishment  due  him,  that  slander 
could  be  easily  met.  The  lictors  knew  better.  The 
jailer  knew  better.  All  Paul's  fellow  prisoners 
knew  better.  And  how  would  Paul's  present  in- 
sistance  for  his  honor  provide  any  additional  reputa- 
tion? The  explanation  must  be  discovered  by  a 
broader  view.  This  is  the  first  time  that  Paul  has 
demanded  that  which  the  law  allowed  him  as  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel.  It  is  not  the  last  time. 
Jesus  made  a  similar  claim  more  than  once  (Jno. 
x.  34,  xviii.  23).  And  here  we  find  the  key  to  the 
incident  before  us.     The  state  is  God's  creation, 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      101 

intended  for  the  good  of  all  his  creatures.  In  a 
sense  it  is  sacred,  so  that  he  that  resisteth,  resisteth 
the  ordinance  of  God.  And  if  one  does  not  claim 
what  the  ordinance  makes  his,  is  he  not  despising 
the  gift  of  God?  There  is  a  meekness  which  is 
sublime  and  there  are  daily  opportunities  for  its 
exhibition,  and  Jesus'  life  and  that  of  his  illustrious 
servant  are  rich  in  illustrations  of  it.  But  there 
is  a  mistaken  meekness,  which  in  failing  to  accept 
the  rights  given  by  God,  dishonors  them.  Paul 
was  not  guilty  of  this.  He  must  not  yield  the  pro- 
tection of  his  body.  That  protection  was  God's  gift 
as  much  as  the  salvation  of  the  soul  which  Paul 
certainly  would  claim,  come  what  might.  When 
he  was  chosen  from  his  mother's  womb  to  bean 
apostle  to  the  Roman  empire,  could  God  have 
been  unmindful  that  he  was  a  free-born  Roman 
citizen?  It  is  a  breach  of  piety  not  to  conserve  the 
good  that  comes  to  one  by  nature  and  the  state. 
And  so  we  find  Paul  hereafter  appealing  to  Caesar 
again  and  again,  only  once  in  form,  but  more  than 
once  in  fact. 

The  apostles,  when  honorably  led  out  of  jail, 
bring  no  charge  for  false  imprisonment.  They  are 
preachers,  not  prosecutors.  It  is  sufficient  for 
them  that  they  are  now  under  the  shield  of  the 
law;  they  do  not  seek  to  enforce  its  penalties. 
They  at  once  set  about  their  appropriate  work, 
call  the  brethren  together,  and  exhort  them,  and 
then  peacefully  go  away. 


162  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

On  the  journey  one  hundred  miles  on  the  great 
Roman  highway  from  Philippi  west,  they  do  not 
stop  at  Amphipolis  and  Apollonia,  but  hasten  on 
to  Thessalonica.  For  Amphipolis  can  be  evangel- 
ized from  the  city  which  they  have  just  left,  and 
Apollonia  from  the  one  which  they  now  enter. 
Paul  does  not  change  his  method  in  Thessalonica. 
For  three  Sabbaths  in  the  synagogue  he  expounds 
the  Scriptures.  The  propositions  proved  were 
three:  first,  the  Scriptures  show  that  the  Messiah 
must  be  a  sufferer;  secondly,  the  Messiah  must  rise 
from  the  dead;  and,  thirdly,  the  historic  Jesus  did 
suffer  and  rise  from  the  dead,  and,  therefore,  he 
is  the  predicted  Messiah.  The  result  was  that 
some  Jews  believed  and  many  sober-minded  Greeks. 
But  the  unbelieving  Jew  is  the  same  in  this  city 
as  in  every  other.  His  malice  here  is  set  over 
against  that  of  the  heathen  in  Philippi,  and  ap- 
pears vastly  blacker.  It  has  been  so  from  the 
beginning.  The  pagan  Pilate  was  determined  to  let 
Jesus  go  (iil.  13)  but  the  Jews  clamored  for  his 
blood  and  secured  it.  This  is  repeated  between 
these  two  towns.  At  Philippi  there  was  a  "shame- 
ful" heathen  outburst.  But  the  mistake  was  quick- 
ly acknowledged  and  righted,  and  Paul  left  the  town 
in  peace  and  honor.  But  here  in  Thessalonica  the 
apostles  must  fly  for  their  lives  before  the  shafts 
of  satanic  hate.  Paul,  in  writing  of  the  Jews  as  a 
whole,  avows  the  utmost  regard  for  them  (Rom.ix. 
1-5,  x.  1,  2).     But  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Thessa- 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      163 

lonians  (ii.  14-16),  with  its  particular  synagogue  in 
mind,  he  has  no  word  of  love  for  Israel.  He  is 
almost  bitter.  With  a  few  strokes  Luke  paints  the 
Thessalonian  Jews  according  to  their  demerit. 
First,  they  gather  the  rabble,  or  the  "rascals,"  ac- 
cording to  T.  S.  Green's  translation,  and  set  a 
riot  on  foot.  Failing  of  their  prey  in  Jason's 
house,  they  drag  the  apostles'  kind  host  and  some 
others  before  the  rulers.  They  charge  them  with 
having  set  the  world  in  revolt.  And  imitating  the 
murderers  of  Jesus,  they  tacitly  profess  an  alle- 
giance for  Caesar,  and  accuse  the  missionaries  of 
treason  against  that  same  potentate.  They  are 
acute  enough  to  turn  Paul's  preaching  of  the  spir- 
itual sovereignty  of  Jesus  into  a  specious  lie,  and 
so  poison  the  mind  of  the  populace.  Their  real 
grievance  against  the  apostles  was  envy.  Their 
alleged  grievances  were  the  invention  of  that  envy. 
And  so  they  trouble  the  rulers  and  the  city  with  their 
falsehoods.  But  Paul  and  Silas  are  not  to  be 
found,  and  only  Jason  suffers.  The  Jews  here 
could  not  show  so  dark  a  work  for  their  effort  as 
the  heathen  did  at  Philippi,  but  they  make  up 
for  it  with  the  exhibition  of  a  much  blacker  heart. 
Before  such  a  spirit  Paul  and  Silas  cannot  stand, 
and  so  by  night  they  go  forty-five  miles  farther 
west  to  Berea  on  the  same  Roman  road. 

In  Berea  Paul  met  with  exceptional  Jews.  They 
are  called  more  noble  than  those  who  had  driven 
him  away  at  Thessalonica.   They  were  not  disposed 


1(54  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

to  prejudge  the  gospel,  but  in  candor  to  inquire  in- 
to it.  On  account  of  this  reasonable  disposition, 
they  searched  the  Scriptures,  found  Paul's  preach- 
ing in  harmony  with  them,  and  believed.  An 
apostolic  letter  always  implies  some  need  in  the 
church  to  which  it  is  written.  If  the  New  Testa- 
ment contains  no  epistle  to  the  Bereans,  the  rea- 
son is  plain.  These  open-hearted  men,  with  the 
Bible  before  them,  required  no  additional  guidance. 

But  the  history  is  not  yet  done  with  the  Jews 
of  Thessalonica.  The  incomplete  picture  is  fin- 
ished with  somber  pigments.  They  repeated  in 
Berea  the  outrage  perpetrated  in  their  own  city, 
and  with  the  same  result.  Paul  must  seek  safety 
again  by  flight.  This  time  he  puts  not  only  a  long 
distance  but  the  sea  between  him  and  his  enemies. 
They  no  doubt  lost  all  trace  of  him.  Athens  was 
well  nigh  three  hundred  miles  away.  Silas  and 
Timothy  were  left  behind,  perhaps  in  the  exigency 
of  the  flight,  but  Paul  sends  them,  by  his  faithful 
conductors,  an  urgent  message  to  follow  him,  and 
now  awaits  their  arrival  in  the  classic  city. 

But  the  burning  spirit  of  Paul  cannot  rest  even 
while  he  tarries  for  Timothy  and  Silas.  As  he  moves 
about  the  town,  a  lone  stranger,  he  sees  its  streets, 
its  parks,  its  magnificent  acropolis  full  of  idols. 
It  was  nothing  to  him  that  these  were  the  creation 
of  Athens'  masters,  and  were  exquisite  for  beauty. 
In  centuries  past  this  city  had  produced  poets, 
warriors,  philosophers  and  statesmen,  whose  names 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  MTH  HEATHENISM      165 

Paul  must  have  known,  but  he  forgets  all  in  his 
sorrow  of  heart  over  these  false  gods.  He  cannot 
wait  in  silence  any  longer,  and  begins  disputation 
in  the  synagogue  and  in  the  market  place. 
Whether  he  had  any  success  or  not  Luke  does 
not  stop  to  say,  for  his  object  here  is  to  show  to 
what  this  daily  contention  with  individuals  led. 
Paul  has  already  met  the  spirit  of  heathenism.  He 
now  for  the  first  time  meets  its  philosophy  and  de- 
fense. The  simple  story  of  love  has  come  in  con- 
flict with  the  highest  Greek  learning. 

It  is  because  Luke  is  about  to  report  such  aeon- 
test  that  he  describes  the  Athenians  on  their  in- 
tellectual side.  He  says  no  more  of  their  social 
and  religious  character  than  is  necessarily  implied 
in  the  intellectual.  The  picture  is  not  pleasing.  He 
sets  before  us  philosophers  of  two  of  the  schools  in 
Athens.  Their  spirit  is  not  the  calm,  judicial  spirit 
of  studious  men.  For  they  hastily  prejudge  Paul, 
and  apply  to  him  the  flippant  term  of  babbler, 
affecting  wonder  at  what  he  is  trying  to  say.  The 
Berean  Bible  searchers  were  more  philosophic 
than  the  Athenian  men  of  learning.  At  last,  it  is 
arranged  to  give  him  a  hearing,  but  not  because 
they  would  know,  although  in  artful  politeness 
they  profess  that  this  is  their  desire.  But  Luke, 
with  one  master  stroke  of  portraiture,  gives  not  only 
their  character,  but  their  only  reason  for  inviting 
Paul  to  speak — "They  spent  their  time  in  nothing 
else  but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new  thing," 


1G6  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

some  different  thing  from  that  which  they  had  list- 
ened to  before.  They  had  some  positive  beliefs, 
and  were  proud  of  them,  but  these  beliefs  had 
given  them  little  thoughtfulness,  and  they  will 
hear  the  gospel  for  the  diversion  and  entertainment 
which  it  may  afford. 

Zeno,  the  founder  of  the  Stoic  school,  and  Epi- 
curus, the  founder  of  the  other  philosophic  sect, 
were  studious  men.  But  they  had  died  three  centu- 
ries before  the  gospel  reached  Athens.  Their  sober 
spirit  had  passed  away,  too,  and  nothing  but  their 
tenets  survived  in  their  light-headed  followers. 
Paul  must  have  been  thoroughly  conversant  with 
these  doctrines,  for  his  speech  bears  directly  against 
them.  Zeno  taught  that  there  was  a  God,  but 
that  he  was  not  independent  of  matter.  He  was  its 
reason  or  spirit.  Much  of  the  language  of  the  Sto- 
ics anticipated  the  modern  doctrine  of  pantheism. 
Logically,  Zeno's  philosophy  left  no  room  for  idols, 
and  the  Stores  condemned  them.  But  at  the  same 
time  they  justified  polytheism  and  regarded  the 
gods  as  minor  developments  of  their  great  god, 
the  World.  Matter  was  eternal,  the  soul  itself 
was  corporeal,  and  at  death  returned  to  its  original 
elements.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  men  with  such 
views  would  mock  at  the  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection. As  to  their  ethics,  they  held  that  pleasure 
was  no  good  and  pain  was  no  evil.  The  vicissi- 
tudes of  life  must  be  met  with  feelingless  pride. 
As  death  ended  all,  the  Stoics  were  not   influenced 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      167 

by  the  fears  and  hopes  of  a  future  life.  A  judg- 
ment to  come  found  no  place  in  their  beliefs. 

The  Epicureans  were  not  pantheists,  but  athe- 
ists. There  was  no  God.  Yet  they,  too,  admitted 
the  gods  into  their  system,  but  regarded  them 
only  as  phantoms  of  the  popular  mind.  The  Epi- 
cureans were  materialists.  They  denied  that  any- 
thing was  created.  All  came  by  chance  or  fate. 
The  soul  itself  was  composed  of  the  same  atoms 
which  went  to  make  up  the  universe.  In  their 
philosophy,  a  resurrection  and  a  future  life  were 
impossible.  In  morals  they  were  opposed  to  the 
Stoics.  They  taught  that  pleasure  was  the  only 
good  and  pain  the  only  evil.  Virtue  and  vice  were 
nothing  in  themselves.  Virtue  was  to  be  followed 
only  because  it  yielded  on  the  whole  most  enjoy- 
ment. Vice  must  be  shunned  on  account  of  the 
present  pain  it  insured.  A  judgment  to  come 
was  impossible. 

Both  systems,  had  they  followed  their  logical 
tendencies,  would  have  annihilated  idolatry,  though 
neither  could  ever  have  found  the  true  God.  But 
it  may  safely  be  assumed  that  in  Paul's  day  both 
schools  moved  with  the  popular  current,  and  were 
practically  idolaters.  They  had  too  little  moral 
earnestness  to  oppose  the  worship  of  the  gods,  and 
Paul  gives  them  the  credit  of  being  in  full  sympathy 
with  it. 

He  begins  in  the  most  conciliating  manner,  a  man- 
ner of  which  both  the  King  James  and  the  Revised 


108  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


version  rob  him.  He  says.  "I  perceive  that  you  are 
more  reverential  to  the  gods  than  others."  Why 
should  the  man  be  made  to  say  "too  superstitious," 
to  whom  any  superstition  would  be  too  much?  And 
why  should  he  say  "somewhat  superstitious,"  when 
they  were  wholly  so?  All  he  implied,  and  this 
agrees  with  what  follows,  was  that  he  saw  gods 
and  their  temples  on  every  hand.  He  met  his 
hearers  on  common  ground.  He  explained  what 
he  meant — "As  I  was  passing  through  and  atten- 
tively reviewing" — here  is  an  implied  compliment 
— "your  objects  of  devotion,  I  beheld  an  altar." 
This  was  very  familiar,  but  not  undignified.  It  is 
as  if  a  man  to-day  should  begin  by  saying,  "As  I 
passed  up  the  avenue,  in  looking  at  your  city,  I 
saw  a  church  edifice."  How  this  peculiar  altar 
came  to  be  inscribed,  "to  an  unknown  God,"  is  a 
matter  even  beyond  conjecture.  It  surely  was 
not  dedicated  to  Jehovah.  Doubtless  no  one  of 
Paul's  hearers  knew  how  it  originated.  It  was  a 
testimony  to  something  or  to  some  one  beyond  the 
hearer's  range  of  knowledge.  And  thus  loosely 
Paul  connects  it  with  Jehovah,  without  even  im- 
plying that  it  was  founded  in  his  honor.  He  says: 
"What  ye  worship  without  knowing" — and  here 
both  the  King  James  and  the  Revised  versions  are 
unhappy  again — "what  ye  worship"  by  the  erection 
of  the  altar  this  declare  I  unto  you. 

The  speech  which  follows  this  introductory  mat- 
ter is    so    replete    with    ideas,  so  compacted,  that 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      169 

analysis  can  hardly  compass  them.  In  general  it 
gives  (I)  God's  relation  to  all  things  (vs.  24-28):  (a) 
to  the  material  universe  (v.  24),  (b)  to  men  (vs. 
25-28);  (II)  His  nature  (v.  29);  (III)  His  moral 
government  of  men  (vs.  30,31). 

In  discussing  God's  relation  to  all  things  he  does 
not  stop  for  one  moment  to  prove  his  existence. 
The  Bible  nowhere  does.  For  atheism  is  not  as 
fixed  and  mischievous  as  that  infidelity  which  denies 
God's  operations  in  things  and  his  true  nature. 
Human  nature  revolts  intellectually  and  religiously 
against  atheism.  It  feeds  on  infidelity.  Paul  did 
not  shrink  from  assuming  the  existence  of  God  be- 
fore professed  atheists.  He  begins  with  the  leading 
truth  that  God  created  everything.  This  struck 
both  Epicureanism  and  Stoicism  to  the  heart.  In 
the  trenchant  words  of  Murphy  in  his  comment 
on  the  first  verse  of  Genesis:  "This  simple  sen- 
tence denies  atheism;  for  it  assumes  the  being  of 
God.  It  denies  polytheism;  for  it  confesses  the  one 
eternal  Creator.  It  denies  materialism;  for  it  as- 
serts-the  creation  of  matter.  It  denies  pantheism ; 
for  it  assumes  the  existence  of  God  before  all  things 
and  apart  from  thern.  It  denies  fatalism;  for  it 
involves  the  freedom  of  the  eternal  Being."  Paul 
speaks  next  of  that  error  common  to  men  in  all 
ages — God  is  not  confined  to  any  sort  of  religious 
house.  Neither  is  he  served — "worshiped"  is  in- 
correct— with  men's  hands.  He  is  independent. 
On  the  other  hand,  his  relation  here  is  one  of  be- 


170  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


neficence — he  is  a  universal  giver.  God  has  not  only 
made  men,  he  has  made  them  of  one  stock  (v.  26). 
The  oneness  of  the  race  is  certain,  since  there  is 
but  one  God.  And  different  nations  and  tribes  do 
not  possess  their  different  geographical  and  politi- 
cal limitation  by  virtue  of  different  national  gods. 
National  bounds  are  fixed,  and  their  existence  de- 
termined by  the  one  God,  not  for  national  glory, 
but  for  moral  ends — "that  they  should  seek  the 
Lord"  (v.  27).  The  doctrine  of  his  relation  to  men 
is  brought  to  a  climax  in  the  statement  that  apart 
from  him  we  would  not  live,  nay,  nor  even  move, 
—  indeed,  apart  from  him  we  could  not  even  exist. 
We  are  his  offspring. 

This  naturally  leads  to  the  second  point  in  the 
address.  That  men  are  God's  offspring  must  be 
proved.  He  finds  the  proof  in  a  passage  taken 
either  from  Aratus  of  Tarsus,  Paul's  own  fellow- 
citizen,  or  from  Cleanthes'  hymn  to  Jupiter.  Both 
employ  substantially  the  same  language.  Paul  does 
not  hesitate  to  use  even  a  heathen  poet's  words 
when  they  are  true,  and  in  the  estimation  of  his 
hearers  these  words  would  be  authoritative.  For 
their  poets  were  to  them  also  prophets.  It  will  be 
noted  now  that  Paul,  in  speaking  of  the  divine  rela- 
tion, has  advanced  far  beyond  the  idea  of  creation. 
To  men  God  is  virtually  Father,  though  this  word 
is  not  used.  But  the  implied  paternal  relation  is 
the  basis  of  the  next  argument — the  nature  of 
God.     Children  are  like  their  sire. 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      171 

If  we  are  his  offspring — if  we,  intelligent,  moral, 
rational  beings,  are  not  only  the  creation  but  the 
offspring  of  God,  we  ought  not  to  think  that  the 
divine  one,  the  sire,  is  like  to  a  dumb,  dead,  sense- 
less idol,  no  matter  how  artistically  molded. 

After  this  irresistible  but  ennobling  argument 
Paul  speaks  of  the  moral  government  of  God.  Every 
word  is  weighty.  In  the  past  God  overlooked  the 
ignorance  about  himself.  But  now  he  commands 
a  universal  repentance.  Idolatry  must  be  aban- 
doned. Paul  gives  a  solemn  reason  for  repentance 
—  the  day  of  judgment.  The  proof  of  such  a  day 
is  the  resurrection  of  the  man  who  is  to  make  the 
awards.  He  calls  the  judge  a  man,  that  they  may 
no  more  think  that  Paul  is  a  setter  forth  of  strange 
gods,  a  man,  because  that  term  fits  the  announce- 
ment of  the  resurrection. 

This  speech  shows  how  Paul  met  the  heathen, 
with  what  arguments  he  persuaded  them.  It  is  an 
expansion  of  the  brief  one  recorded  in  xiv.  15-18. 

It  was  unanswerable.  Paul's  learned  audience 
had  nothing  with  which  to  meet  it  but  that  confes- 
sion of  defeat,  their  mockery.  Some,  however, 
were  more  polite,  but  no  less  unbelieving,  in  pre- 
tending they  would  be  glad  to  hear  him  again. 
Under  such  circumstances  he  left  them,  but  not 
without  some  fruit  for  his  labor.  One  of  the  judges 
believed.  A  woman  also  of  some  standing,  as  the 
mention  of  her  name  indicates,  accepted  the  truth, 
and  some  others. 


i72  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Paul's  work  is  done  in  Athens,  from  whose  acrop- 
olis on  a  clear  day  strong  eyes  might  see  the  heights 
of  Corinth,  forty-five  miles  distant.  To  this  popu- 
lous, commercial  city,  with  all  its  wickedness,  Paul 
wends  his  way  alone.  He  finds  a  family  skilled  in 
his  own  craft,  and  for  this  reason  makes  his  abode 
with  them,  and  works  at  his  trade.  This  is  the 
first  time  we  are  given  to  know  how  Paul  got  a 
foothold  on  entering  a  town  for  the  sake  of  preach- 
ing. Such  details  are  outside  of  Luke's  purpose 
in  this  treatise.  And  here  the  matter  is  mentioned 
only  because  of  its  bearing  further  on.  Priscilla 
and  Aquila  have  a  large  place  in  the  book.  Hence 
the  little  item  about  their  life  (xviii.  2).  Paul  finds 
a  home  with  them,  not  because  they  were  believers 
but  because  of  their  trade.  Their  conversion, 
when  or  where,  is  not  mentioned.  Paul  gives  his 
Sabbaths  to  the  synagogue  with  the  usual  result — 
the  Jews  reject,  the  Gentiles  are  favorable.  He 
leaves  the  synagogue  with  the  token  of  abhorrence 
appointed  by  the  Lord,  but  finds  a  place  for  serv- 
ice in  a  house  hard  by.  It  was  as  accessible  as 
the  synagogue,  no  more  so,  and  no  less.  The  labor 
in  the  synagogue  was  not  without  its  fruits.  The 
leader  himself  was  won,  with  many  others.  And 
here  again  baptism  is  mentioned.  It  was  noted  at 
the  beginning  of  this  European  work,  and  then  not 
again  until  now  we  reach  the  last  city  evangelized 
on  this  tour. 

The  movements    of  Timothy,  as  here  recorded, 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      \7d 

show  how  closely  Luke  sticks  to  his  main  purpose. 
He  has  left  one  point  entirely  in  the  dark.  He  told 
us  Paul  sent  for  Timothy  from  Athens  and  was 
waiting  his  arrival  there.  And  now  he  informs  us 
that  Timothy  and  Silas  overtake  the  apostle  in 
Corinth.  The  only  inference  could  be  that  Paul 
did  not  tarry  long  enough  in  Athens  to  afford  Tim- 
othy time  to  reach  him.  But  this  is  not  the  state 
of  the  case.  From  the  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians 
we  learn  that  Timothy  did  come  on  and  find  Paul 
in  Athens  (I  Thess.  iii.  I,  2)  but  was  hurried  back 
to  Thessalonica  to  help  that  church.  '  The  arrival 
mentioned  here  in  Corinth  is  a  second  one  since 
we  parted  from  the  young  preacher  at  Berea.  But 
Luke  sticks  so  closely  to  the  apostle's  work  in 
spreading  the  gospel  that  all  else  is  omitted.  He 
does  not  mention  the  fact  that  at  this  time,  here 
in  Corinth,  Paul  wrote  the  Epistles  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians, and  sent  Timothy  back  with  them,  nor 
does  he  say  a  word  about  Paul's  great  anxiety  at 
Corinth  for  this  northern  church. 

At  this  time,  just  after  Paul  had  to  leave  the 
synagogue,  an  event  occurred  which  puts  the  divine 
seal  on  this  whole  course  from  Troas  to  Antioch. 
There  the  apostle  had  a  vision;  here  he  has  an- 
other co'mmanding  him  to  remain  and  preach.  The 
vision  there  said  no  more  than  this,  Come  into 
Macedonia.  But  Paul  is  now  far  beyond  the  limits 
of  Macedonia.  He  is  away  off  here  in  distant 
Achaia.      Is  this  the   Lord's    will?    The  vision  an- 


174  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

swers — "I  am  with  thee."  But  Luke  has  plainly 
another  object  in  his  record  of  the  vision — to  show 
how  the  Lord  can  sustain  the  spirit  of  his  servant. 
He  has  already  shown  more  than  once  how  the 
bodies  of  the  apostles  were  preserved.  Paul  was 
mortal.  He  was  certainly  dejected.  The  very 
first  word  in  the  vision  is,  "Be  not  afraid."  Again 
he  is  assured  that  no  man  shall  set  on  him  to  hurt 
him.  How  exactly  the  epistle  to  these  same  Cor- 
inthians, written  about  five  years  later,  harmonizes 
with  this.  He  says  his  advent  among  them  was 
"in  weakness  and  in  fear  and  in  much  trembling" 
(I  Cor.  ii.  1-3).  No  wonder.  He  had  been 
"shamefully  entreated  "at  Philippi.  He  had  been 
driven  by  persecution  out  of  Thessalonica  and 
Berea.  He  had  been  left  alone  to  be  mocked  at 
Athens.  He  had  been  virtually  expelled  from  the 
synagogue  here  in  Corinth.  It  had  been  one  long 
siege  of  bitter  trial  in  which  his  life  was  more  than 
once  in  peril.  This  was  too  much  for  even  his  iron 
nerve.  His  courage  was  tottering,  and  Luke  shows 
how  the  Lord  cheered  his  heart  again.  The  last  word 
in  the  vision  must  have  been  most  grateful  of  all — 
"I  have  much  people  in  this  city."  They  were  yet 
in  the  blindness  of  heathenism,  but  they  were  the 
Lord's  and  known  to  him,  and  Paul  is  to  remain 
and  preach  that  they  may  be  cleansed  of  their  idol- 
atry and  brought  to  the  light. 

It  might  be  asked  here:  Is  this  the  only  city  of  all 
those  visited  by  Paul  that  contained  people  for  the 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  WITH  HEATHENISM      175 

Lord?  Why  is  this  mentioned  here?  Because 
Luke  is  showing  the  unfolding  of  things,  how  the 
Lord  led  so  that  one  truth  after  the  other  was 
brought  out.  Paul  had  been  sent  forth  with  the 
commission  to  preach.  He  knew  his  duty  well. 
But  he  was  in  danger  of  losing  heart,  and  to  en- 
courage him  he  is  now  informed  why  he  is  to 
preach.  The  Lord  has  a  people  among  the  sin- 
sodden  Corinthian  mass,  and  he  will  use  the  apos- 
tle and  his  message  for  their  salvation.  The  Lord 
does  not  send  out  his  servants  to  preach  to  the 
wind.  He  knows  his  own  and  commissions  his 
servants  to  gather  them  into  the  fold. 

As  Luke  is  wholly  concerned  here  with  showing 
the  Lord's  care  for  the  apostle,  he  does  not  say  a 
word  about  how  this  gathering  out  of  the  foreknown 
people  was  accomplished. 

The  vision  had  its  influence  on  Paul,  and  the 
Lord  made  its  promise  good,  for  in  the  first  place 
we  are  immediately  told  (xviii.  n)  that  the  apostle 
staid  here  a  long  time,  a  year  and  six  months,  and, 
again,  an  interesting  incident  is  related  to  show 
God's  care  of  his  servant.  Gallio,  brother  of 
Seneca,  was  proconsul.  The  Jews  rise  up  against 
Paul  and  bring  the  charge  that  he  is  persuading 
men  to  worship  God  contrary  to  Roman  law.  But 
Gallio  is  a  different  man  from  those  who  ruled  in 
Philippi, — different  from  those  who  ruled  in  Thes- 
salonica.  Hence  his  name  finds  a  place  in  the  ac- 
count and  their    names   do  not.      Paul  is  about   to 


176  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


make  his  defense  when  the  governor  addresses  the 
Jews.  He  declares  if  this  were  a  question  of  morals 
he  could  entertain  it.  But  since  it  is,  as  he  con- 
ceives, a  mere  matter  of  names,  whether  the  name 
of  Jesus  is  identical  with  the  name  of  Christ,  he 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  He  non-suits  the 
Jews,  and  bids  them  depart.  His  conduct  gives 
the  cue  to  the  Greeks,  who,  in  their  inveterate  ha- 
tred of  the  Jews,  fall  upon  and  beat  the  ruler  of  the 
synagogue,  evidently  the  leader  of  the  case  against 
Paul.  Gallio  does  not  interfere.  He  probably  felt 
that  Sosthenes  deserved  as  much  for  coming  into 
court  with  such  a  trivial  case.  The  Jewish  views 
of  the  gospel  gave  him  no  care. 

This  event  did  not  occur  at  the  end  of  Paul's  stay 
in  Corinth,  but  sometime  during  the  year  and  six 
months  of  his  ministry.  For  "Paul  after  this  tarried 
there  yet  a  good  while."  But  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  54  A.  D.  he  leaves  Corinth  for  Syria.  The 
mention  of  Priscilla  and  Aquila  (there  is  none  of 
Silas  or  Timothy)  is  necessary  to  an  understand- 
ing of  the  history  further  along.  But  what  is  meant 
by  the  shaving  of  the  head  and  the  vow  (xviii.  18) 
is  not  easily  settled.  Most  likely  it  was  Paul's 
head  that  was  shaved  and  not  Aquila's,  though  the 
language  is  somewhat  ambiguous.  Paul  having 
now  left  Corinth  and  having  reached  the  port  town 
of  Cenchrea,  where  he  must  embark,  may  have 
signalized  and  signified  the  completion  of  his  work 
by  removing  his  locks,  the  tokens  of  his  vow.   These 


TRIUMPHANT  CONFLICT  IVITH  HEATHENISM      177 

would  have  significance  among  the  Jews  and  others 
in  Corinth.  They  would  be  meaningless  on  board 
ship  and  during  his  whole  journey  home.  His  work 
for  the  present  was  done.  Let  its  pledges  disap- 
pear. 

In  the  journey  from  Corinth,  Priscilla  and  Aquila 
are  left  at  Ephesus  where  the  account  soon  finds 
them  again.  Paul  makes  an  address  in  the  Ephe- 
sian  synagogue,  which  is  so  well  received  that 
he  promises  to  return,  "if  God  will."  His  stay  is 
so  brief  because  he  wishes  to  be  at  the  feast  in  Je- 
rusalem. Neither  the  text  nor  the  feast  is  wholly 
certain.  The  text  is  defended  by  Meyer,  Baum- 
garten  and  others,  and  as  to  the  feast  it  is  safe  to 
say  it  was  Pentecost.  He  sailed  from  Ephesus.  A 
single  verse  takes  him  to  Csesarea,  to  Jerusalem, 
and  then  north  to  the  Syrian  Antioch,  and  the  sec- 
ond missonary  tour  is  completed. 


178  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  XV 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  JOHN  IN  CONTRAST  WITH  THE 
BAPTISM  OF  THE  HOLY  GHOST 

Acts  xviii.  23 — xix.  7 

The  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist  was  necessarily 
so  overshadowed  by  the  Lord's  which  followed, 
that  the  power  of  the  former  is  often  overlooked. 
To  minimize  the  baptism  which  John  preached  is 
to  belittle  that  which  followed.  Jesus  called  the 
forerunner  the  greatest  born  of  women.  John 
stirred  the  nation  from  center  to  circumference. 
In  his  zeal  to  purify  he  rebuked  every  one,  from  the 
publican  in  his  greed  to  the  sensual  Herod  on  his 
throne.  Men  mistook  him  in  his  holiness  for  the 
expected  Messiah.  He  found  it  necessary  to  say 
again  and  again,  "I  am  not  he."  He  won  to  his  side 
the  choicest  spirits  in  Israel,  men  like  Andrew  and 
Simon  and  John  and  James.  These,  with  thousands 
of  others,  were  John's  ardent  followers  before  the 
Son  of  Mary  came  to  his  baptism.  And  when  the 
latter  began  his  ministry,  which  in  its  outset,  and 
for  months  afterward,  did  not  differ  from  John's, 
the  disciples  of  each,  as  a  rule,  followed  their  own 
leader  (John  iii.  22-26;  iv.  1).  That  is,  those  who 
came  to  the  decreasing  light  were  slow  to  desert  it 
for  the  increasing  one.     And,  down  to  his  death,  this 


JOHN'S  VS.   THE  HOLY  GHOST  BAPTISM  179 

last  and  greatest  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets  had 
those  of  his  converts  who  clung  to  him  (Luke  vii. 
19,  Matt.  xiv.  12).  If  Herod  had  not  destroyed 
the  earnest  reformer  it  seems  certain  that  there 
must  have  been  two  parties  in  Israel,  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  and  the  disciples  of  John. 

It  is  not  strange  then  that  we  find  distinct  traces 
of  John's  influence  at  the  distance  of  both  time  and 
place  to  which  the  present  section  belongs.  Alex- 
andria and  Ephesus  are  many  hundreds  of  miles 
from  the  Jordan.  But  Apollos  had  learned 
John's  baptism  in  the  former  city  and  came  to 
preach  it  in  the  latter.  And  a  full  quarter  of  a 
century  has  passed  since  John's  head  was  offered 
a  sacrifice  to  the  hate  of  Herodias.  After  so  long 
a  time,  and  after  the  gospel  of  God's  grace  has 
spread  abroad,  men  are  still  found  to  bear  aloft  the 
banner  of  the  Baptist. 

But  after  all,  the  two  streams  that  started  full 
twenty-five  years  ago  in  the  same  territory,  and 
that  flowed  some  distance  with  the  same  volume 
now  greatly  differ.  John's  has  dwindled.  The 
other  has  become  a  mighty  river  that  promises  to 
engulf  Rome's  national  religion.  Our  section  is 
intended  not  only  to  show  the  difference  between 
the  two,  but  how  they  united  here  in  Ephesus,  and 
how  the  smaller  at  last  wholly  lost  its  individuality 
in  the  other.  The  sternest  preaching  of  reform 
without  the  risen  Christ  as  a  basis  cannot  main- 
tain itself  in  the  world,  or   John's  must  have  sue- 


180  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

ceeded.  How  meager  it  looks  after  a  quarter  of  a 
century  in  comparison  with  that  other,  whose  head 
was  the  ascended  Lord,  and  whose  energy  was  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

In  the  early  autumn  of  54  A.  D.,  if  the  chronolo- 
gists  are  followed,  Paul  leaves  Antioch  in  Syria,  and 
a  single  verse  (xviii.  23)  is  all  that  is  written  about 
his  work  through  Galatia  and  Phrygia,  for  Luke 
aims  now  at  nothing  but  this  question  of  John's 
ministry.  These  inland  countries  were  only  men- 
tioned in  the  preceding  tour  (xvi.6),when  undoubt- 
edly they  were  both  evangelized,  or  Paul  on  the 
present  tour  would  not  have  found  churches  to 
strengthen.  Paul's  work  among  the  Galatians  was 
of  an  intensely  interesting  character,  as  is  learned 
from  the  epistle  subsequently  written  to  them.  That 
Luke  says  nothing  of  this  work  shows  again  how 
closely  the  Holy  Spirit  holds  him  to  his  task,  not 
to  write  the  history  of  apostolic  evangelization, 
but  of  the  development  of  the  church  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Lord.  Nothing  in  the  way  of  de- 
velopment occurred  in  Galatia,  and  so  its  notice 
in  the  Acts  is  the  scantiest  possible,  little  besides 
the  name  being  given. 

Luke  makes  us  fully  acquainted  with  Apollos.  He 
is  a  native  of  the  cultured  city  Alexandria.  He  is 
skilled  in  speech,  which  implies  learning.  He  is 
thoroughly  versed  in  the  Old  Testament  books. 
He  has  been  trained  in  the  teachings,  if  the  best 
text  is  followed,  of  Jesus,  and  knew  his  exposition 


JOHN'S  VS.  THE  HOLY  GHOST  BAPTISM  181 

cf  the  Law  and  his  maxims  for  a  holy  life.  He 
was  full  of  zeal  and  taught  these  things  with  ear- 
nest care.  But  his  knowledge  at  most  did  not  reach 
further  than  the  cross.  He  was  not  acquainted 
with  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  knew 
only  the  baptism  of  John.  By  this,  it  is  needless 
to  add,  is  meant  not  merely  the  immersion  adminis- 
tered by  the  great  prophet,  but  the  teaching  and 
system  which  that  immersion  embodied  and  set 
forth.  The  preaching  of  Apollos  was  about  what 
we  may  imagine  Peter's  or  John's  would  have  been 
had  they  left  Palestine  during  the  second  year  of 
Jesus'  ministry,  without  hearing  a  word  from  the 
Saviour  afterward.  Only  they  would  have  lacked 
Apollos'  culture  and  his  knowledge  of  the  Script- 
ures, but  their  point  of  view  would  have  been  the 
same. 

Luke  has  drawn  this  portrait  of  the  eloquent  Alex- 
andrian, with  his  knowledge  of  John's  baptism,  that 
he  may  make  the  bolder  contrast  between  him  and 
the  humble  couple  whom  he  met  in  the  synagogue. 
Jesus  said,  in  speaking  of  John,  "He  that  is  least  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  he"  (Matt, 
xi.  11).  The  story  before  us  illustrates  it.  The 
refugee  tent-makers  know  more  than  the  skilled 
disciple  of  John.  They  hear  him  in  the  synagogue 
and,  readily  detecting  his  deficiency,  take  him  to 
themselves  and  instruct  him  in  the  way  of  God 
more  perfectly.  These  workmen  are  more  than  a 
match  for  Apollos.      He  knew    the  Scriptures,  but 


183  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


they  knew  also  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
He  was  skilled  in  religious  speech,  but  they  were 
full  of  spiritual  understanding.  One  delicate  point 
is  obscured  in  the  twenty-sixth  verse  of  the  King 
James'  version  by  the  reversal  of  the  names  of 
Apollos'  instructors.  That  order  ought  to  be 
Priscilla  and  Aquila,  the  woman's  name  first.  Had 
the  original  put  the  husband's  name  first  no  copyist 
or  emendator  would  have  thought  of  changing  it. 
The  change,  no  doubt,  was  made  to  put  this  pas- 
sage in  harmony  with  what  Paul  afterward  wrote  in 
reference  to  a  woman's  right  to  teach.  But  the 
passage  in  its  original  form,  with  Priscilla' s  name 
standing  first,  does  not  conflict  with  Paul,  and  by 
the  unwarranted  alteration  the  very  point  is  lost 
that  it  was  a  woman  who  instructed  Apollos.  This 
fact  emphasizes  the  antithesis  between  the  two  sys- 
tems confronting  each  other  here.  If  there  ever 
was  a  female  among  John's  disciples,  the  Script^ 
ures  make  no  note  of  it.  Jesus  not  only  had  many 
of  the  daughters  of  Israel  in  his  train,  but  the  script- 
ure used  on  Pentecost's  day  puts  them  in  some 
sense  on  the  same  level  with  the  sons  of  Israel — 
that  scripture  quoted  by  Peter — "And  on  my  hand- 
maidens will  I  pour  out  my  Spirit,  and  they  shall 
prophesy."  It  was  in  the  exercise  of  this  gift,  ex- 
perimentally unknown  to  John,  that  a  woman  was 
now  guiding  one  of  the  very  greatest  of  his  disci- 
ples into  the  full  light  of  the  truth. 

It  must  be  thought  that  through  the  tutorage  of 


JOHN'S  VS.  THE  HOLY  GHOST  BAPTISM  183 

Priscilla  and  Aquila,  Apollos  received  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  by  him  was  set  in  full  fellowship  with 
the  risen  Lord.  But  the  account  is  absolutely  si- 
lent on  this  point,  for  its  main  object  is  to  compare 
the  teaching  of  John  with  the  teaching  of  the  as- 
cended Christ,  and  the  superiority  of  the  latter  is 
sufficiently  obvious  when  the  best  of  John's  follow- 
ers must  take  lessons  from  the  humblest  of  Christ's. 
Of  course,  Apollos,  after  receiving  such  a  broad 
beam  of  light,  could  not  go  back  to  the  synagogue. 
To  be  sure  he  might  have  confessed  that  he  had  spok- 
en hitherto  without  full  knowledge  of  the  truth  and 
might  have  claimed  that  now  he  knew  the  way  of  the 
Lord  perfectly.  But  this  would  have  raised  a  sus- 
picion against  him  sufficiently  strong  to  destroy  his 
usefulness.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  can  tell  him  about 
Corinth.  He  can  begin  there  with  his  new  found 
truth.  And  so  with  letters  of  commendation  (v. 
27)  he  goes  to  strengthen  the  work  which  Paul  had 
left  only  a  few  months  previously.  One  sentence 
about  Apollos'  work  in  Corinth  shows  the  advan- 
tage he  had  derived  from  his  intercourse  with  Pris- 
cilla and  Aquila — "he  helped  them  much  who  had 
believed  through  grace."  He  had  not  helped  the 
tent-makers  at  Ephesus,  they  had  helped  him. 
The  reason  is,  Priscilla  and  Aquilla  surpassed  him 
in  being  acquainted  with  the  grace  of  the  Lord, 
and  Apollos  had  belonged  to  a  system  that  knew 
nothing  about  grace.  But  now  that  he  had  learned 
it  he  could  instruct  those  who  had  experienced  the 


184  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

same  favor.  And  here  again  we  see  how  a  striking 
fact  is  brought  out,  not  because  it  has  not  existed 
before,  but  because  events  had  not  yet  progressed 
far  enough  to  bring  it  to  the  surface.  At  the  out- 
set it  was  said  that  by  much  persuasion  men  be- 
lieved; then,  that  those  who  were  ordained  to 
eternal  life  believed;  next,  that  the  Lord  opened 
the  heart  of  Lydia  that  she  might  believe,  and  now, 
for  the  first  time,  we  are  informed  that  these  Cor- 
inthian believers,  and  of  course  all  others,  became 
such  through  grace.  This  comes  about  here  be- 
cause at  this  point  the  history  took  such  a  turn  as 
to  make  the  statement  of  the  fact  pertinent.  The 
doctrine  does  not  come  as  a  dry  formula,  but  as  a 
living  part  of  the  history.  The  church  is  a  plant, 
whose  growth  is  followed,  in  which  new  shoots 
from  time  to  time  appear. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  Lord  raised  up 
in  Apollos  a  new  and  mighty  aid  in  his  work.  The 
Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  show  that  in  some 
sense  he  was  the  equal  of  Paul.  He  shared  with 
the  apostle  the  affections  of  this  strong  Achaian 
church.  But  it  is  no  part  of  Luke's  purpose  to 
exhibit  the  Lord's  agency  in  leading  the  eloquent 
African  into  the  ministry,  but  rather  that  no  qual- 
ifications equip  one  for  that  ministry,  except  the 
knowledge  of  grace  furnished   by  the    Holy  Ghost. 

While  Apollos  is  in  Ephesus,  Paul  is  coming 
thither  from  his  work  in  the  highlands  (xix.  i)  or 
"upper  coasts"  of  Phrygia  and  Galatia.     The  chap- 


JOHN'S  VS.  THE  HOLY  GHOST  BAPTISM  185 

ter  mark  which  intervenes  so  prominently  here  is  in 
a  very  illogical  place.  It  would  be  much  better 
had  it  been  placed  between  the  twenty-second  and 
the  twenty-third  verses  of  the  preceding  chapter, 
that  the  account  of  the  baptism  of  the  twelve  men 
might  have  been  joined  directly  to  the  story  con- 
cerning Apollos  which  it  supplements.  Luke,  in  re- 
lating Paul's  meeting  with  these  twTelve  men,  is 
still  pursuing  his  intent  to  prove  how  far  the  church 
has  outstripped  the  best  that  John's  ministry  could 
do.  The  apostle,  on  arriving  in  Ephesus,  shortly 
after  the  departure  of  Apollos,  finds  certain  disci- 
ples. At  first  we  might  think  that  these  were 
made  by  Apollos.  But  we  can  hardly  conceive 
that  he,  after  finding  the  light,  would  go  away 
without  enlightening  them.  But  whence  they 
came  or  how  they  came  to  be  what  they  were 
does  not  concern  Luke.  Priscilla  and  Aquila 
quickly  detected  the  defect  in  Apollos'  faith.  In 
some  way  Paul  soon  saw  a  similar  deficiency  in 
these  twelve  disciples.  He  inquires:  "Did  ye  re- 
ceive the  Holy  Ghost  when  ye  believed?"  They 
answer  that  they  did  not  hear  that  he  was  given. 
Paul,  with  the  Christian  formula  of  baptism  in 
mind,  virtually  asks  how  it  could  be  that  they  did 
not  know  about  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  They 
say  that  they  had  been  baptized  into  John's  bap- 
tism. They  stood  just  where  Apollos  did  when  he 
arrived  in  Ephesus.  Paul  now  reminds  them  that 
John's  baptism  pledged  them   to  believe  in  Jesus. 


186  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


The  twelve  admit  it,  and  now  submit  to  the  bap- 
tism in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  After  the 
baptism  they  receive  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  im- 
position of  Paul's  hands,  the  proof  of  the  gift  being 
that  they  speak  with  tongues.  And  this  is  now 
the  last  time  that  baptism  is  mentioned  in  the  book 
of  Acts,  and  so  also  the  last  notice  of  the  laying 
on  of  hands.  And  this  story  about  the  twelve  men 
clearly  shows  the  inadequacy  of  that  which  had 
had  its  day  in  John's  mighty  career. 

There  are  now  five  instances  of  the  miraculous 
bestowment  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  each  teaching  its 
own  lesson  in  showing  who  can  be  admitted  to  the 
new,  spiritual  society:  (i)  Pentecost  decided  that 
those  who  had  rejected  the  earthly  ministry  of  the 
Christ  might  come  in.  (2)  The  gift  to  Samaria 
taught  that  those  who  have  a  religion  half  true 
and  half  heathen  may  repent  and  come.  (3)  In 
Cornelius  the  Gentiles  are  admitted.  (4)  In  Saul 
one  who  had  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost  and  had  per- 
secuted the  church  received  that  same  Holy  Ghost 
and  was  admitted.  (5)  In  the  twelve  men  at  Eph- 
esus  those  who  had  been  negligent  in  obeying 
John's  teaching  to  believe  in  the  Christ,  and  who 
must  be  reminded  of  it  by  Paul,  are  admitted  to 
the  spiritual  body.  If  the  list  closes  with  this 
case  it  must  be  that  all  classes  of  men  have  now 
been  reached  in  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  Jews, 
half  Jews,  Gentiles,  persecutors,  and  those  who 
knew  only  the  baptism  of  John. 


JOHN'S  VS.  THE  HOLY  GHOST  BAPTISM  187 

Many  interesting  questions  suggest  themselves 
here.  Was  Apollos  rebaptized  by  Aquila?  Was 
he  enabled  to  speak  with  tongues?  Were  these 
twelve  men  baptized  by  John  himself  twenty-five 
years  before,  or  were  they  disciples  of  John's 
disciples?  In  any  case  why  did  Paul  have  them 
reimmersed?  Why,  as  apparently  in  the  case 
of  the  twelve  apostles,  should  not  the  imparting 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  have  completed  that  baptism 
which  these  twelve  at  Ephesus  had  had  before  Paul 
met  them?  Not  one  of  these  questions  can  be 
answered  conclusively.  For  they  all  lie  outside 
of  what  Luke  has  in  mind  here,  and  to  which  he 
rigidly  confines  himself.  The  Word  of  God  is  as 
clear  as  a  sunbeam  on  every  point  on  which  it  in- 
tends to  give  light.  If  it  does  not  answer  related 
and  suggested  questions,  it  must  be  because  these 
in  no  wise  affect  the  matter  in  hand.  Two  things 
are  unmistakable  in  this  section.  The  first  is  that 
John's  ministry  could  not  give  full  knowledge  of 
the  truth,  as  the  story  about  Apollos  shows,  and  the 
second  is  that  that  same  ministry  could  not  give 
the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  case  of  the  twelve  shows. 
If  Apollos  was  baptized  by  Aquila  and  received  the 
gift  of  tongues,  Luke,  by  not  recording  the  fact, 
has  left  himself  room  to  bring  out  his  discussion  in 
the  form  of  a  climax,  and  has  thus  made  his  proof 
the  more  conclusive.  The  section  closes  with  giv- 
ing the  number  of  the  men.  This  has  the  same 
force  argumentatively   as  the  information   about 


188  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Apollos'  culture  and  eloquence  given  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  section.  What  his  knowledge  did  not 
secure  for  him  their  numbers  did  not  gain  for  them. 
Though  there  were  twelve  of  them,  every  one  was 
deficient,  notwithstanding  their  earnestness  in  fol- 
lowing John's  baptism. 

But  the  story  is  nothing,  if  it  is  not  practical. 
Apollos  is  presented  to  us  in  a  character  little  less 
than  grand.  The  twelve  men  are  sincere,  candid 
devout,  upright.  A  man  may  have  the  noble,  cult- 
ured zeal  of  an  Apollos,  and  the  pure  earnestness 
of  these  twelve,  and  yet  be  appallingly  below  that 
grace  which  is  found  only  in  Christ  Jesus.  John 
was  the  greatest  that  ever  lived  to  preach 
a  pure  theistic  morality.  But  Luke  surely 
means  to  show  that  to  live  in  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  vastly  superior,  because  it  has  the 
power  to  set  an  obscure  Aquila  far  above  an  elo- 
quent Apollos. 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  189 


SECTION  XVI 

THE  BIRTH  OF    THE     PURPOSE     TO    EVANGELIZE  THE 
WORLD 

Acts  xix.  8 — xxi.  1 6 

It  might  have  been  said  before  the  present  sec- 
tion in  the  book  of  Acts  was  reached,  that  the 
church  has  attained  its  complete  character,  so  that 
it  is  now  a  body  composed  of  believing  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  and  animated  and  united  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Henceforth  and  to  the  end  Luke  is  con- 
cerned to  show  how  the  church  found  its  center 
from  which  to  enlighten  the  world  and  color  all 
succeeding  centuries.  That  center  is  not  Jerusalem 
which  rejects,  but  Rome  which  receives  Christ's 
apostle.  The  story  gathers  more  closely  about 
him.  In  what  is  immediately  before  us  we  see 
how  he  was  led  into  the  purpose  to  make  the  polit- 
ical world's  center  his  own.  Little  is  said  about 
his  three  years'  evangelization  at  Ephesus.  The 
first  really  new  thing  in  the  record  is  Paul's  en- 
dowment with  extraordinary  power,  and  how  that 
power  became  the  occasion  of  his  wide-reaching 
intent  to  see  Rome.  But  this  power  showed  itself 
not  only  in  him,  but  on  all  about  him.  Diana's 
worship  was  tottering,  and  her  votaries  were  rushing 
to  her  defense.      Paul    commits    the  work  in  these 


190  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

regions  to  other  hands,  and  sets  out  for  Jerusalem. 
The  time  had  come  for  this.  It  is  just  at  the  time 
when  this  section  closes  that  he  writes  to  the  Ro- 
mans:— "Having  no  more  place  in  these  parts.  .  . 
I  will  come  to  you"  (Rom.  xv.  23).  This  is  the 
keynote  of  the  present  stage  of  the  history  which 
shows  how  the  purpose  was  formed,  and  how  Paul 
set  out  to  realize  it. 

Milligan,in  his  Baird  Lectures  on  the  Apocalypse, 
shows  the  similarity  between  the  Gospels  and  the 
Book  of  Revelation.  The  latter  is  modeled  on  cer- 
tain prophetic  portions  of  the  former.  If  it  were 
profitable  there  could  be  traced  here  a  duplication 
between  the  book  of  Acts  and  the  life  of  Jesus. 
And  why  not?  God's  dealings  with  successive  gen- 
erations of  men  have  ever  been  from  the  same  cen- 
ter, but  in  ever-widening  circles.  The  likeness  in 
the  several  administrations  of  the  divine  grace  for 
the  overcoming  of  sin's  obstinate  disease  is  not 
hard  to  see.  After  John  was  imprisoned  Jesus' 
power,  no  matter  for  what  reason,  bloomed  forth, 
in  the  active  Galilean  ministry  (Mark  i.  14)  from 
which  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  be  rejected,  and 
thus  open  the  way  for  the  gospel  to  reach  the 
world.  It  is  after  John's  baptism  is  absorbed  in 
the  progress  of  the  church,  that  Paul  receives  un- 
common power  to  finish  this  provincial  work,  after 
which  he  goes  to  Jerusalem,  is  rejected  and  the 
gospel  reaches  its  goal  in  the  world's  capital.  Were 
it  of  any    service   this  parallel   might    be  traced  in 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  191 

many  details.  Nor  is  it  worth  while  to  ask  whether 
it  was  designed.  It  exists  between  the  two  records 
because  the  aims  of  Jesus  and  of  Paul  were  the 
same. 

In  reference  to  the  evangelization  which  had 
now  its  center  in  Ephesus,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  it 
extended  over  a  period  of  about  three  years  (xx. 
31),  three  months  in  the  synagogue  and  two  years 
and  some  months  in  the  school-room  of  Tyrannus. 
In  the  last  tour  the  Spirit  had  not  suffered  Paul  to 
preach  in  this  district  (xvi.  6)  but  had  hurried  him 
on  past  it  into  Europe.  The  divine  guidance  di- 
rected both  as  to  the  time  and  the  place  for  evan- 
gelical work.  And  for  Ephesus  the  time  had  now 
come.  But  though  Paul  staid  here  so  long,  very 
little  is  said  about  his  work.  There  was  the  usual 
opposition  of  the  Jews,  the  separation  from  them, 
and  then  in  a  single  sentence  we  learn  that  "all 
they  which  dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the 
Lord"  (xix.  10).  There  must  have  been  many 
assistants  and  a  thoroughly  organized  effort.  After 
this  very  brief  account  the  history  comes  at  once  to 
the  main  thought  of  this  section.  God  endowed 
his  servant  with  great  power,  so  that  no  ordinary 
miracles  were  wrought  by  him  (v.  12).  The 
handkerchiefs  and  aprons  carried  from  Paul's  per- 
son cured  diseases  and  expelled  demons.  This 
extraordinary  power  incited  some  traveling  exor- 
cists to  use  the  name  of  Jesus  in  their  incantations 
over  a  demoniac.      The  possessed  man  rose  against 


102  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


them,  drove  them  from  the  house  and  a  scene  en- 
sued on  the  streets,  and  before  the  eyes  of  so  many, 
that  all  Ephesus  came  to  know  it.  The  result  was 
threefold.  First,  a  solemn  dread  spread  over  the 
city.  The  excitable  Greek  populace  had  been 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  supernatural  from 
both  worlds.  The  city  became  convinced  that  the 
name  of  Jesus  must  not  be  lightly  used  or  trifled 
with,  and  so  they  magnified  it  (v.  17).  He  had 
himself  signally  vindicated  the  honor  of  his  name 
in  the  public  discomfiture  of  the  Jews  who  had  at- 
tempted profanely  to  conjure  with  it.  A  second 
result  was  that  many  who  had  changed  their  creed 
but  not  their  morals  now  mended  their  ways,  and 
publicly  confessed  their  evil  deeds.  To  all  ap- 
pearances these  were  members  of  the  church  be- 
fore the  demoniac's  onslaught  upon  the  exorcists 
(v.  18).  The  third  result  was  more  directly  in  line 
with  what  had  made  such  a  general  stir.  The  ex- 
orcists would  be  classed  with  the  magicians.  The 
latter  now  saw  the  difference  between  the  power  of 
Jesus  and  their  own  futile  arts.  Without  money 
and  without  price,  Jesus'  name  really  healed.  For 
great  sums  they  did  no  more  than  to  delude  their 
victims.  In  the  fear  that  prevailed  they  have  not« 
the  courage  to  pursue  their  magic  arts  further.  It 
might  befall  them  as  it  did  the  exorcists.  They 
bring  together  the  parchments  on  which  their  occult 
but  deceptive  formulae  are  written  and  make  a 
public  bonfire  of  them.      While  the  intrinsic  price 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  193 

of  these  books  was  very  little  their  market  price 
amounted  to  an  enormous  sum  (v.  19).  The  black 
art  was  overthrown  in  the  city.  Those  who  had 
practiced  it  compelled  themselves  to  seek  an  honest 
livelihood.  Luke  sums  up  these  results  with  the 
exultant  statement:  "So  mightily  grew  the  Word  of 
God  and  prevailed. "  That  Word  had  won  converts 
in  many  places,  but  now  a  whole  city  was  subdued 
before  it,  and  it  could  at  last  be  said  that  it  had 
"prevailed"   (v.    20). 

The  very  next  verse  might  be  anticipated.  The 
gospel  having  succeeded  in  Ephesus  and  in  all  Asia 
Paul  is  at  leisure  to  go  elsewhere.  But  the  com- 
prehensiveness of  his  purpose  at  this  time  is  at 
first  sight  startling.  It  sweeps  the  world's  centers. 
He  will  visit  the  former  fields  of  his  labors,  Mac- 
edonia and  Achaia,  he  will  go  to  Jerusalem,  and 
then  he  will  visit  the  imperial  city.  The  magnitude 
of  this  resolution  is  the  outcome  of  the  great  tri- 
umph of  the  gospel  in  Asia.  It  is  said  indeed  that 
he  purposed  all  this  "in  the  spirit,"  but  this  phrase 
should  probably  read  as  in  most  modern  transla- 
tions. Paul  purposed  in  his  spirit,  or  simply 
he  purposed.  In  this  outlook  toward  the  future 
he  was  guided,  as  it  must  surely  be  thought,  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  But  Luke  does  not  mention 
that  here.  His  aim  is  now  to  show  how  God's 
guidance  of  events  brought  the  great  missionary  to 
the  world's  capital.  With  what  object  Timothy 
and  Erastus  are   sent   on    ahead,    we    are    not   in- 


194  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSlLkS 

formed.  The  fact  is  mentioned  only  to  show  that 
Paul  moved  at  once  to  carry  out  his  absorbing  in- 
tent, though  he  must  tarry  himself  yet  a  while  in 
Asia   (v.    22). 

The  historian  meanwhile  will  add  another  event 
to  his  record  to  exhibit  the  power  of  the  gospel. 
Already  he  has  shown  its  influence  on  those  who 
had  come,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  to  think  as 
Paul  thought.  He  will  now  set  forth  its  influence 
on  the  opposite  party.  Or  rather  he  will  pcint 
out  how  the  gospel  has  undermined  the  leading  sin 
of  the  city.  Idolatry  is  trembling,  and  seems  to  its 
interested  adherents  to  be  tottering  to  its  fall. 
There  is  no  small  stir  about  the  gospel  with  the 
new  life  which  it  has  induced,  "the  way"  as  it  is 
now  called.  Demetrius  makes  an  artful  speech. 
He  was  plainly  a  leading,  an  influential  citizen. 
His  business  was  the  life  of  other  kindred  trades. 
All  these  felt  the  stagnation  which  faith  in  Jesus 
brought  about.  It  was  as  Demetrius  said:  "This 
Paul  hath  persuaded  and  turned  away  much  peo- 
ple," not  only  in  Ephesus,  but  "throughout  all 
Asia."  The  market  for  silver  models  of  the  great 
heathen  temple,  one  of  the  most  noted  in  the 
world,  was  flat.  The  noise  of  the  workmen's  ham- 
mers in  the  shops  of  Demetrius  was  steadily  de- 
creasing while  the  songs  of  praise  to  God  were 
heard  on  every  hand.  The  temple  steps,  once 
crowded  with  devotees,  were  less  and  less  trodden, 
there  were  only  stragglers  where  once  crowds  had 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  195 

pressed  forward,  and  so  something  must  be  done. 
Demetrius  calls  a  meeting.  He  appeals  to  his  hear- 
ers' covetousness,  but  adroitly  covers  the  selfish- 
ness of  that  by  a  higher  appeal  to  their  love  of  their 
renowned  goddess.  It  is  not  without  reason  that 
he  warns  of  the  danger  that  not  only  the  goddess 
will  come  to  be  despised,  but  also  that  her  worship 
will  cease.  Demetrius  had  not  mistaken  about  the 
way  the  tide  had  set,  and  he  felt  the  force  of  the 
current.  An  uproar  followed.  Luke's  account  of 
it  is  every  way  graphic.  Some  incidents  are  spe- 
cially instructive.  Paul,  anxious  about  his  two 
friends  who  were  caught  in  the  wild  rush  to  the 
theater,  was  determined  to  go  in  to  the  people. 
Had  the  disciples  permitted  him,  in  all  probability 
he  would  never  have  seen  Rome.  But  now  the 
fact  comes  to  the  surface  that  even  some  of  the 
Asiarchs,  or  "chiefs  of  Asia,"  are  his  friends.  This 
friendship  may  have  been  generous.  But  it  does 
not  detract  from  Luke's  object  to  show  the  influence 
of  the  gospel  in  Asia,  if  it  is  assumed  that  these 
Asiarchs  were  not  unselfish  in  their  regard  for  Paul. 
They  were  ten  in  number.  It  was  their  duty  to 
provide  at  their  own  expense  for  the  public  games, 
and  to  keep  order  during  their  celebration.  In  so 
far  as  Paul  makes  these  heathen  games  undesirable 
and  diminishes  the  number  attending  them,  in  so 
far  he  saves  these  Asiarchs  both  expense  and 
trouble.  The  very  reason  that  would  make  De- 
metrius an  enemy  of  Paul  would  make  these  rulers 
of  the  games  Paul's  friends. 


196  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Alexander  is  mentioned  only  to  show  how  his  ap- 
pearance as  an  apologist  excited  the  crowd  to  their 
mad  two  hours'  cry,  by  which  the  town  clerk  was 
brought  to  the  theater.  Hence  it  cannot  be  told 
to  which  party  Alexander  belonged,  whether  he  was 
a  Christian  or  an  unbeliever,  whether  he  was 
thrust  forward  by  the  Jews  as  one  of  their  own  to 
defend  them,  or  as  an  apostate  to  Jesus,  and  hence 
a  fit  victim  for  the  wrath  of  the  mob.  In  either 
case  he  was  a  hated  Jew,  and  this  is  all  that  the 
historian's  argument  requires  here.  As  usual  he 
does  not  stop  to  answer  irrelevant  questions. 

A  public  official,  called  the  town  clerk,  gets  a 
hearing.  His  speech  is  a  "pattern  of  candid  argu- 
ment and  judicious  tact."  It  is  wholly  on  the  side 
of  Paul.  The  first  point  he  makes  is  that  the 
crowd  are  shouting  themselves  hoarse  in  proof  of 
what  every  one  admits.  Here  was  a  skillful  blend- 
ing of  flattery  and  reproof.  His  next  point  is  that 
the  Christian  leaders  have  done  no  criminal  act. 
They  have  not  robbed  the  temples  ("churches"  is 
a  violent  mis  translation)  of  the  gods,  neither  have 
they  spoken  ill  of  Diana,  If  there  has  been  any 
wrong-doing  it  was  personal,  it  concerned  Deme- 
trius alone,  and  should  be  settled  in  the  Ephesian 
courts  then  in  session.  This  puts  the  silversmith 
in  an  awkward  position  before  the  crowd.  Why 
does  he  appeal  to  them  in  a  law  case?  But  the 
town  clerk  shows  more  deference  to  the  mob.  If 
they  are  inquiring  about  other  matters — he  would 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  197 


half  way  convey  his  assumed  conviction  that  they 
have  some  grievance — why,  it  must  be  determined 
in  the  lawful  assembly.  The  article,  omitted  in 
the  King  James'  version,  and  the  adjective,  suggest 
what  the  two  words  do  not  say  about  this  assem- 
bly. Let  the  hearers  reflect  one  moment  on  this 
suggestion.  They  are  not  a  legally  called  town 
meeting,  but  a  mob  on  the  eve  of  riot.  This  pre- 
pares the  way  for  the  third  and  effective  point  in 
the  speech — "We  are  in  danger."  Rome  had 
granted  Ephesus  no  little  freedom,  but  the  imperial 
city  was  jealous  of  all  turbulent  assemblages,  and 
this  uproar  might  cost  Ephesus  a  serious  abridg- 
ment of  its  municipal  rights.  The  town  clerk  could 
easily  see  that  his  address  had  not  been  in  vain, 
and  so  he  pronounces  the  formal  words  which  dis- 
solve the  crowd,  and  they  go  quietly  to  their 
homes.  Demetrius  has  gained  nothing  but  chagrin 
and  a  conviction  that  the  gospel  has  a  foothold 
in  Ephesus  from  which  it  cannot  be  so  readily 
moved.  The  Asiarchs  are  in  favor  of  it,  the  town 
clerk  will  say  nothing  against  it,  and  Rome  so  far 
defends  it. 

Having  now  written  about  how  the  high  resolve 
was  formed  to  see  Rome,  and  having  given  proofs 
of  the  completeness  of  the  apostle's  work  in  Eph- 
esus, Luke  shows  how  the  apostle  set  out  on  his 
journey.  Rome  is  his  goal,  but  before  he  can 
turn  his  face  thither  he  must  see  the  churches  he 
has  founded  and  commit  their  care  to  other  hands. 


198  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


The  journey  of  many  months  through  Macedonia 
and  Achaia  is  condensed  into  three  verses  (xx.1-3). 
The  writer  seems  almost  impatient  to  get  his  sub- 
ject turned,  if  not  toward  Rome,  at  least  toward 
the  Jewish  capital.  Those  months  spent  in  Mace- 
donia and  Achaia  were  full  of  work.  The  Epistles 
to  the  Corinthians,  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
the  latter  written  at  this  time  from  Corinth,  show 
how  very  much  the  busy,  tireless  apostle  did.  It 
was  in  these  months  that  he  evangelized  Illyricum 
away  to  the  northwest  (Rom.  xv.  19).  It  was  on 
this  hastily  described  tour  that  he  was  collecting 
money  everywhere  for  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem. 
Luke  could  not  have  been  unacquainted  with  these 
things.  He  himself,  we  must  suppose,  helped  to 
carry  the  churches'  contributions  to  their  destina- 
tion. He  knew  all  that  Paul  had  done  from  Eph- 
esus  to  Corinth,  and  back  again,  but  according  to 
his  manner  of  writing  and  the  structure  of  his  book, 
he  will  not  turn  from  his  subject.  He  is  silent 
about  all  these  things.  He  does  not  give  the  name 
of  a  single  town  visited  on  this  long  trip.  He 
bunches  all  together  in  one  word  Greece,  nowhere 
else  employed  in  the  New  Testament.  He  is  con- 
cerned now  with  following  Paul  toward  the  holy 
city.  One  thing  he  notes  about  Paul's  presence 
in  Greece.  He  was  intending  to  sail  to  Syria  and 
thus,  of  course,  to  save  months  of  time  in  reaching 
his  supreme  limit.  But  the  malignant  Jews  were 
ready  to  attack  his  vessel  (xx.  3)  and  to  shun  them 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  100 

the  apostle  mast  take  the  long  and  tedious  land 
route.  This  one  little  incident  is  like  the  simple 
theme  in  an  elaborate  dirge.  It  is  the  first  note 
of  that  long  delay  which  Paul  was  to  experience  in 
getting  to  Rome,  a  delay  caused  by  the  rancor  of 
Israel  against  the  gospel. 

After  this  lightning  sketch  the  style  suddenly 
changes.  The  moment  that  Paul  turns  south 
from  Philippi  (xx.  6)  Luke  writes  with  the  utmost 
detail.  The  days  and  nights  are  given  all  the  way 
from  the  chief  city  in  Macedonia  to  the  chief  city 
of  the  Jews.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  Paul  and 
his  company  were  engaged  at  almost  every  step. 
From  the  close  of  the  Passover  week  in  Philippi  to 
the  day  of  Pentecost  in  Jerusalem  we  know  where 
Paul  is  and  what  he  is  doing.  What  is  the  meaning 
of  this  abundance  of  particulars?  Shall  we  say  it 
merely  signifies  that  at  Philippi  Luke  joined  the 
apostle's  company,  as  the  resumption  of  the  au- 
toptic  style  makes  certain,  and  being  now  an  eye- 
witness, he  could  give  a  full  and  detailed  narrative? 
This  would  be  to  confound  means  and  aim.  Luke's 
presence  on  this  journey  was  the  means  by  which 
he  gathered  all  these  items,  but  why  did  he  write 
them?  .  Shall  we  say  that  he  whose  object  in  every 
word  set  down  hitherto  was  as  clear  as  a  sunbeam, 
becomes  now  suddenly  purposeless  in  his  narrative, 
and  is  nothing  more  than  a  news  reporter?  It  will 
aid  us  in  discovering  what  the  history  means  here  if 
we  note  the  threads  on  which  the    multitudinous 


200  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

facts  are  hung.  First  of  all,  Paul  is  taking  leave  of 
the  churches.  He  does  not  expect  to  see  them 
again.  The  address  to  the  Ephesian  elders  is  giv- 
en as  a  sample  of  these  farewell  visits.  Again, 
this  is  the  place  to  show  the  completeness  and  es- 
pecially the  unity  of  the  churches.  They  all  pos- 
sess the  same  spirit.  That  spirit  is  one  of  solicitude 
for  the  gospel.  Paul  is  everywhere  warned  about 
the  danger  that  awaits  him  at  Jerusalem.  Again,  in 
the  section  now  before  us,  we  find  for  the  first  time 
warm  exhibitions  of  love  for  Paul.  Luke  hitherto 
had  only  shown  how  the  great  missionary  was 
hated.  He  had  not  told  of  the  devotion  of  the 
Galatians,  who  would  have  plucked  out  their  eyes 
for  the  apostle  (Gal.  iv.  14,  15),  nor  of  the  esteem 
of  the  Thessalonians  (I  Thess.  iii.  6)  and  of  the 
Philippians  (Phil.    i.  26). 

Now  it  is  plain  that  the  history,  by  lingering  along 
from  day  to  day  and  depicting  what  is  pleasant, 
means  to  prepare  us  for  the  painful  events  soon  to 
occur  in  Jerusalem.  The  churches  are  every  where 
with  Paul,  but  to  carry  out  his  grand  design  he 
leaves  them  for  that  caldron  of  rage  where  the 
Lord  was  rejected  and  where  he  too  must  be. 

It  will  not  be  forgotten  that  Luke's  story  here 
is  not  unlike  his  former  treatise  about  the  Lord. 
In  the  gospel,  even  before  the  ninth  chapter  is 
completed  (Luke  ix.  51),  the  account  of  the  Sav- 
iour's last  journey  to  Jerusalem  already  begins. 
To   cite   the   end  thus   early   enhances   its  signifi- 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  201 

cance.  And  so  here.  The  delay  among  the  mul- 
titudinous particulars  throws  light  on  that  to  which 
they  lead. 

Paul's  journey  to  Jerusalem  begins  with  a  list  of 
the  names  of  his  traveling  companions  (xx.  4). 
The  words  "into  Asia,"  are  not  genuine,  and  the 
Revised  version  is  every  way  preferable  here. 
These  preceded  Paul  and  the  rest  of  the  com- 
pany to  Troas.  Here  there  was  a  stop  of  seven 
days,  that  the  first  day  of  the  week  might  come 
around  and  bring  all  the  disciples  together.  That 
they  met  at  night  signifies  that  they  observed  the 
evening  of  the  first  day  and  that  the  time  of  these 
disciples  was  not  their  own.  Many  of  them  may 
have  been  slaves  who  had  to  toil  during  the  day. 
But  they  had  nothing  to  conceal,  and  this  was  not 
a  secret  meeting,  for  there  were  many  lights  in  the 
upper  room  (xx.  8)  where  the  church  came  together. 
Apparently  they  met  on  our  Saturday  evening, 
so  that  the  communion  loaf  was  broken  before 
daylight  on  our  Sunday  morning.  The  story  of 
Eutychus  comes  in  appropriately  here.  That  ex- 
traordinary power  which  induced  Paul  to  enter  on 
his  present  course  has  not  deserted  him.  He  has 
now  fairly  set  out  for  Jerusalem,  and  it  is  at  this 
supreme  moment  that  the  apostle  works  his  great- 
est miracle.  Eutychus  is  restored  to  life.  No  won- 
der that  when  in  the  morning  they  led  the  young 
man  alive  they  were  "not  a  little  comforted."  For 
how  could  Paul   have   gone   away   from    Troas   in 


202  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

peace  of  mind,  if  as  a  result  of  the  meeting  a 
mangled  corpse  must  be  left  behind.  As  it  is,  he 
can  now  go  forward  assured  that  God  is  with  him. 
Luke  notes  the  daily  stages  until  Miletus  is  reached. 
Ephesus  is  passed  by  in  the  earnestness  to  get  on 
to  Jerusalem.  But  from  Miletus  the  Ephesian 
elders  are  summoned,  and  Paul  addresses  them  in 
a  farewell  speech.  Its  object  is  to  impress  them 
with  the  responsibility  which  is  henceforth  upon 
them  and  to  teach  them  how  to  meet  it.  To  this 
end  his  three  years'  work  among  them  is  full  of  in- 
struction. The  address  may  be  analyzed  as  fol- 
lows:— 

I.  Paul  reviews  his  three  years'  ministry,  vs. 
18-21. 

1.  The  spirit  of  his  ministry:  (a)  he  was  lowly 
minded;  (b)  he  was  tender,  working  often  in  tears; 
(c)  he  was  patient  under  the  plots  of  the  Jews 
against  him  (vs.    18,   19). 

2.  The  diligence  of  his  ministry:  (a)  he  made 
every  salutary  thing  known  to  them;  (b)  he  taught 
both  in  public  and  in  private  (v.  20) ;  (c)  he  neg- 
lected no  class,  whether    Jew  or  Greek  (v.    21  a). 

3.  The  theme  of  his  ministry — repentance  and 
faith  (v.    21  b). 

II.      The  present  state  of  things,  vs.  22-27. 

1.  Paul's  immediate  purpose — to  go  to  Jerusalem 
(v.    22). 

2.  The  shadows  lying  across  his  path — bonds 
and  afflictions   (v.    23). 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  203 

3.  Paul's  fixed  purpose — to  complete  his  minis- 
try (v.    24). 

4.  A  sorrowful  prediction — the  elders  shall  see 
Paul  no  more  (v.    25). 

5.  Paul  leaves  no  debt  of  obligation  behind;  (a) 
he  is  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  (v.  26)  (b)  be- 
cause he  declared  among  the  Ephesians  the  whole 
body  of  truth  (v.    27). 

III.     The  elders'  responsibility,  vs.    28-35. 

1.  Motives  to  duty:  (a)  the  elders  received  their 
office  from  the  Holy  Spirit ;  (b)  the  flock  for  which 
they  must  care  was  the  purchase  of  most  precious 
blood  (v.    28). 

2.  The  perils  ahead:  (a)  wolves  would  come  in 
(v.  29) ;  (b)  some  of  themselves  would  prove  false 
(v.    30). 

3.  A  reminder — how  for  three  years  Paul  watched 
night  and  day  with  tears   (v.    31). 

4.  He  commends  them  to  God  and  to  his  Word 
(v.    32). 

5.  The  elders  must  be  unselfish  in  their  service, 
as  (a)  Paul's  labor  with  his  own  hands  taught  (v. 
33,  34),  and  (b)   as  Jesus'    own    words   enjoin   (v. 

35)- 

But  no  analysis  can  do  justice  to  the  sweet,  pa- 
thetic, personal  persuasion  of  this  address.  Why 
does  he  tell  the  elders  of  the  sorrows  which  are 
ahead  of  him,  why  inform  them  that  they  are  look- 
ing upon  his  face  for  the  last  time,  except  to  move 
them  by  worthy  regard   for   him   to   conserve    his 


204  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES' 

work?  Analysis  can  no  more  compass  the  argu- 
ment of  this  speech  than  the  analysis  of  a  wild 
flower  can  preserve  its  odor. 

It  has  often  been  noted,  especially  by  Alford,  that 
those  who  are  called  elders  in  the  seventeenth  verse 
are  addressed  as  bishops  in  the  twenty-eighth  verse. 
While  the  titles  are  two,  the  office-  is  but  one. 
But  the  faulty  rendering  of  the  King  James,'  ver- 
sion which  places  these  bishops  "over"-  the  flock 
has  not  received  due  attention.  The  Revised  ver- 
sion is  correct  here,  though  it  fails  in  a.,  similar 
passage  in  I  Thess.  v.  12.  Paul  knew  of  no  one 
who  was  over  the  church  except  the  Lord  Jesus. 

In  the  twenty-eighth  verse  the  phrase  "church 
of  God"  must  be  regarded  as  genuine.  It  is  a  com- 
bination of  frequent  occurrence,  found  elsewhere 
in  Paul's  writings  not  less  than  eleven  times.  Why 
should  he  in  this  single  place  where  most  of  all  his 
argument  required  the  word  God,  why  should  he 
have  used  here  the  weaker  word  Lord?  But  hav- 
ing written  the  word  God  it  is  easy  to  conceive  how 
some  later  hand  in  the  interests  of  Arianism  should 
change  it  to  Lord.  The  Pauline  usage  is  a  strong 
argument  in  favor  of  the  former. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  address  a  scene  ensued 
so  beautifully  tender  (vs.  36-38)  that  the  less  said 
about  it  the  better.  If  Paul  had  the  bitter  hate 
of  the  Jews  he  had  the  burning  love  of  the  disciples 
of  Jesus. 

After  leaving   Miletus,  the   historian   hurries  the 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  205 

apostolic  company  along  to  Tyre  in  Phoenicia. 
Little  notes  of  the  journey  are  given  (xxi.  1-4.) 
At  Tyre  there  is  a  stay  of  seven  days.  The  King 
James  phrase  "and  finding  disciples,"  leads 
astray.  It  suggests  that  believers  were  accidentally 
encountered.  The  truth  is,  it  was  expected  that 
disciples  would  be  here.  It  ought  to  read,  "and 
when  we  had  found  out  the  disciples."  Believers  in 
Jesus  existed  everywhere.  All  Paul  had  to  do  was 
to  look- for  them.  And  here  in  Tyre  there  is  the 
same  solicitous  regard  for  him.  From  Philippi  to 
Jerusalem  the  churches  are  alike,  and  all  possess 
the  same  spirit.  But  here  a  difficulty  confronts 
us.  These  Tyrean  brethren  said  to  Paul  "through 
the  Spirit"  that  he  should  not  go  up  to  Jerusalem. 
And  yet  it  is  under  the  guidance  of  this  same  Spirit 
that  he  is  on  the  way  thither.  Is  the  divine  coun- 
sel divided?  This  church  had  prophets  among  its 
numbers,  for  it  was  only  by  means  of  these  that 
Paul  was  warned  against  pursuing  his  course  fur- 
ther. The  difficulty  is  greatly  increased  here,  for 
those  who  believe  that  the  church  was  in  some 
sense  inspired.  Such  must  feel  that  Paul,  despite 
his  noble  purpose  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  was  disobey- 
ing the  voice  of  God.  And  some  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  so.  But  the  story  contains  no  hint  of  such 
insubordination,  while  at  the  same  time  it  must 
be  allowed  that  the  prophets  of  the  church  were 
under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit.  For  how  else 
could  they  know  what  awaited  Paul  in  Jerusalem, 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


which  city  may  not  have  known  at  this  time  that 
the  great  apostle  was  coming?  But  these  church 
prophets  were  not  so  inspired  that  their  voice 
was  equivalent  to  the  voice  of  God.  They  were 
not  inspired  as  an  apostle  was,  not  inspired  as 
Paul  was,  who  lays  down  explicit  directions  for 
the  prophets'  guidance  (I  Cor.  xiv  29-33).  The 
voice  of  the  New  Testament  prophet  was  always 
worthy  of  attention  and  respect,  -»but  it  was  not 
always  authoritative  nor  even  correct.  The  rule 
by  which  it  was  to  be  tried  is  found  in  I  Thess. 
v.  20,  21 — "Despise  not  prophesyings,  prove  all 
things,  hold  fast  to  that  which  is  good,"  which  is 
just  what  Paul  would  be  most  likely  to  do  in  this 
case.  He  would  say  to  these  brethren  that  there 
was  no  doubt  that  bonds  and  afflictions  awaited 
him,  for  he  had  heard  that  prediction  again  and 
again  in  this  journey  (xx.  23).  But,  he  would  note, 
when  it  was  said  that  he  must  not  go  to  Jerusalem, 
how  tender  solicitude  was  mistaken  for  the  utter- 
ance of  God's  Spirit,  for  he  himself  was  so  unmis- 
takably directed  that  he  was  moving  forward  "bound 
in  the  Spirit"  (xx.  22).  Surely  the  man  who  was 
going  in  the  teeth  of  the  divine  will  could  not  re- 
ceive such  comfort  as  Paul  was  given  in  Jerusalem 
(xxiii.  11).  When  Jonah  did  not  take  the  course 
prescribed  by  God  he  was  not  commended — dis- 
aster overtook  him. 

When  the  seven  days  are  completed  at  Tyre  the 
apostolic  company  set  out  on    the    journey  south- 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  WORLD  207 

ward.  The  whole  church  accompanies  them  be- 
yond the  city,  and  for  some  distance  down  the 
beach.  They  separate  with  prayer.  The  children 
(xxi.  5)  who  took  part  in  this  farewell  scene  could 
never  forget  it.  It  would  not  be  strange  if  away 
in  the  next  century  they  told  their  own  children 
how  in  the  spring  of  the  year — we  now  call  it  58 
A.  D. — they  had  knelt  on  the  shore  with  Christ's 
great  apostle  while  he  commended  them  to  God. 
They  could  tell  of  his  distinguished  appearance 
and  his  noble  spirit.  The  beginning  of  the  second 
century  must  have  had  thousands  of  men  in  all 
countries  who  in  their  youth  had  seen  and  heard 
God's  messenger  to  the  Gentiles. 

At  Ptolemais  the  stay  is  brief.  The  brethren  are 
saluted,  after  which  Paul  and  his  company  come 
by  land  to  Csesarea  and  stop  with  Philip,  one  of  the 
seven  (xxi.  8).  The  fact  mentioned  about  this  man's 
daughters  seems  to  show  that  the  gift  of  prophecy 
was  not  confined  to  one  sex.  But  there  is  much 
more  here.  Luke  evidently  records  this  as  some- 
thing unusual.  Here  is  a  family  with  special  grace. 
The" father  has  been  distinguished  for  years.  The 
virgin  condition  of  the  daughters  is  so  mentioned 
as  to  intimate  that  it  was  a  matter  of  choice  main- 
tained for  the  sake  of  their  office.  But  what  are 
they  all  doing  here  in  the  heathen  town  of  Caesa- 
rea?  How  is  it  that  their  home  is  here?  We  are 
told  that  this  Philip  is  the  evangelist  and  one  of 
the  seven,  to  remind  us  specially  that  he  belonged 


208  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

to  the  church  in  Jerusalem.  It  is  ominous  of  the 
sad  state  of  things  soon  to  disclose  itself  under 
the  shadow  of  the  temple,  that  this  gifted  family 
is  found  in  the  city  of  Caesar,  and  not  in  Jerusa- 
lem. The  very  spirit  which  made  their  roof  a 
hospitable  shelter  for  Paul  and  his  companions 
would  unfit  them  for  a  residence  where  he  had 
been  rejected  who  was  Lord  of  all  and  whose 
spirit  Paul  possesses. 

It  was  while  Paul  was  at  home  in  Philip's  house 
that  Agabus  came — not  from  Jerusalem,  as  on  a 
former  occasion  (Acts  xi.  27,  28)  but  from  Judea; 
for  he,  too,  no  longer,  as  it  would  seem,  found  a 
home  in  the  city.  This  prophet  set  out  in  a  very 
vivid  way  what  awaited  Paul  at  the  completion 
of  his  journey.  Like  his  Lord  before  him  the  Jews 
would  deliver  him  bound  into  the  hands  of  the 
Gentiles.  Upon  this  announcement,  not  only  those 
of  Paul's  own  company,  which  included  Luke  him- 
self and  Timothy,  but  "they  of  that  place,"  Philip, 
his  daughters  and  others,  entreated  Paul  to  stay 
away  from  Jerusalem.  His  sublime  answer  shows 
how  much  better  he  understood  the  Lord's  will 
than  even  they  did.  The  Spirit  warned,  he  cer- 
tainly thought,  not  to  deter  him  from  his  course, 
but  to  prepare  him,  and  the  love  of  his  friends  was 
now  a  hindrance  instead  of  a  help.  But  his  de- 
termination to  proceed  let  them  into  the  secret  of 
his  profound  conviction  and  so  they  acquiesce,  with 
the  words,  "The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done."    Their 


PURPOSE  TO  EVANGELIZE  THE  IVORLD  209 

conduct  is  admirable.      His  is  marked  with  grand- 
eur. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  long  journey  which  has 
reached  its  last  stage  now,  the  baggage  is  men- 
tioned. This  is  not  without  its  significance.  Paul 
was  going  into  the  city  with  everything  he  had. 
He  was  leaving  nothing  behind  to  which  to  flee. 
We  know  well  what  was  in  this  baggage  (Acts 
xxiv.  17)  but  Luke  makes  no  point  of  that  here, 
for  he  aims  only  to  show  that  Paul  went  forward 
as  deliberately  as  if  nothing  but  friendship  awaited 
him.  The  mention  of  the  man  with  whom  the 
company  was  to  find  a  home  is  full  of  meaning. 
He  was  a  Hellenist,  a  man  from  Cyprus,  a  fellow 
countryman  of  those  liberal-minded  souls  who  had 
first  offered  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  (Acts  xi.  20). 
Moreover  he  was  not  a  recent  convert  but  belonged 
to  the  early  disciples,  to  that  generation  which 
went  everywhere  preaching  the  Word.  These  sym- 
pathized with  the  work  among  the  Gentiles.  Mna- 
son  was  just  the  man  to  lodge  the  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles  along  with  his  fellow  travelers  from  the 
foreign  field.  James  welcomes  Paul  to  the  city, 
and  is  in  full  sympathy  with  his  work,  but  it  must 
be  noted  that  it  is  not  he  who  receives  him  under 
his  roof, 


210  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  XVII 

THE    GOSPEL  REJECTED    BY    JERUSALEM    FINDS    REF- 
UGE IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE 

Acts  xxi.    iy — xxiii.  35 

Luke,  at  this  stage  of  his  history,  has  certainly 
made  it  clear  that  the  church  is  established  among 
the  heathen.  He  showed  how  the  gospel  got  its 
foothold  at  Philippi,  where  he  sketched  the  begin- 
ning of  things.  He  gave  the  history  of  its  establish- 
ment in  the  great  commercial  center  of  Corinth. 
At  Ephesus  was  found  the  consummation  of  the 
work.  The  city's  leading  sin  was  paralyzed  by  the 
preaching  of  the  truth,  and  the  church  is  so  firmly 
entrenched  that  Paul  commits  its  care  to  others, 
with  the  understanding  that  it  can  receive  no 
further  aid  from  him,  and  that  the  leaders  shall  see 
his  face  no  more. 

But  while  this  work  has  been  going  on  abroad  in 
all  these  years,  what  has  been  done  on  the  home 
field?  What  is  the  state  of  things  in  Jerusalem, 
where  the  gospel  took  its  rise  and  where  it  had  its 
first  great  triumphs?  It  is  to  the  answer  of  this 
question  in  general  that  the  history  now  leads. 
God's  Spirit  guided  Paul  to  the  city  of  his  fathers 
that  it  might  be  demonstrated  that  the  ascended 
Lord  is  finally  rejected    by  his  own    people.      It  is 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  211 

pretty  plain  that  the  body  of  Jewish  believers  might 
be  tolerated  in  Jerusalem  as  a  sect  of  Judaism. 
But  Christianity,  as  it  had  now  wrought  itself  out 
and  established  itself  in  heathendom,  could  not  be 
allowed  for  a  moment.  A  church  in  Jerusalem 
made  up  exclusively  of  Jews  might  be  admitted, 
but  a  church  composed  of  Jews  and  uncircumcised 
Gentiles  meeting  on  a  level  was  an  abomination  to 
Israel.  James  was  the  leader  of  the  former,  Paul 
of  the  latter.  The  two  are  brought  face  to  face  at 
this  time. 

In  the  last  section  Luke  has  left  an  impression 
of  the  solemn  earnestness  with  which  Paul  made 
this  final  visit  to  the  Jewish  capital.  But  he  has 
nowhere  disclosed  Paul's  purpose  in  the  visit.  The 
apostle  does  not  know  himself  whether  its  issue 
will  be  life  or  death.  He  was  only  sure  that  it  in- 
volved great  sorrow.  It  will  not  be  forgotten  that 
scarce  ten  weeks  before  this  meeting  with  James, 
Paul  composed  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  That 
epistle  is  peculiar  in  this,  that  it  is  the  only  one  of 
all  those  written  by  him  which  fully  declares  the 
rejection  of  Israel.  He  devotes  three  chapters,  the 
ninth,  tenth  and  eleventh,  to  the  subject.  He 
shows  that  Israel's  casting  off  is  neither  total  nor 
final,  yet  for  the  present  the  nation  as  a  whole  is 
hardened,  and  salvation  in  consequence  has  gone  to 
the  Gentiles.  In  writing  such  things  it  would  seem 
that  he  is  preparing  a  way  for  himself  among  the 
Romans  and  justifying  his  abandonment    of  God's 


212  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

ancient  people.  Why,  then,  when  he  wrote  thus 
almost  at  the  gates  of  Rome,  does  he  turn  round 
and  go  to  Jerusalem  hundreds  of  leagues  in  the 
opposite  direction?  God  constrained  him.  It  is 
to  be  shown  just  how  inimical  Jerusalem  is  to  the 
ascended  Lord.  What  Paul  wrote  to  Rome  about 
the  obstinacy  of  the  Jews  is  to  be  proved,  proved 
both  to  himself  and  to  us.  The  time  is  just  twelve 
years  before  Titus'  battering  rams  will  be  plunging 
their  iron  heads  against  the  gates  of  the  ancient 
city.  Meanwhile  its  citizens  are  to  have  one  more 
persuasive  offer  of  the  gospel  that  they  may  accept 
it  if  they  will.  If  Paul  called  on  the  Athenians 
to  repent,  because  God  had  appointed  a  day  in 
which  he  would  judge  the  world,  why  should  not 
Jerusalem  turn,  whose  doom  was  gathering  black 
above  it  ?  The  gospel  as  it  was,  the  gospel  as  it 
had  shaped  itself  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  the 
great  apostle,  had  never  been  offered  by  him  to 
Jerusalem.  For  what  is  said  two  years  later  to 
Agrippa  (xxvi.  20)  does  not  controvert  this  state- 
ment. Plainly,  it  is  God  who  has  now  given  him 
the  opportunity  to  testify  for  him  here  (xxiii.  1 1). 
The  call  did  not  come  as  direct  as  when  he  crossed 
over  to  Macedonia  for  the  first  time,  but  it  is 
none  the  less  certain  that  it  came  from  on 
high. 

Before  details  are  considered,  it  will  be  noted 
that  Paul  has  successive  opportunities  to  present 
the  gospel,  but  is  rejected  in  every  one,    first  by 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  213 

the  mob  (xxi.,  xxii.),  then  by  the  council  (xxiii.), 
then  by  the  spiritual  chiefs  (xxiv.),  and  finally  by 
the  political  rulers  (xxv.,  xxvi.).  Even  at  Athens 
he  gained  a  few  converts.  But  during  his  two 
years'  stay  among  the  Jews  he  did  not  win  one. 
He  was  permitted  to  glorify  God  in  preaching  his 
gospel  to  Israel,  but  not  in  gaining  disciples  among 
them. 

At  the  outset  it  must  be  observed,  what  has  not 
always  been  noted,  that  the  "brethien"  (xxi.  17) 
received  Paul  gladly.  This  welcome  could  not  have 
been  on  the  part  of  the  believers  generally,  and  yet 
it  must  have  been  representative.  Luke  certainly 
means  something  when  he  declares  that  the  travel- 
ers were  received  gladly.  It  has  not  been  sharply 
discriminated  that  nowhere  is  the  church  repre- 
sented as  taking  any  part  against  Paul.  To  be  sure 
James  and  Paul  come  face  to  face,  but  does  not 
Luke  show  that  at  once  they  see  eye  to  eye? 
James  and  the  elders  hear  the  story  of  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Gentiles  "particularly"  and  the  result  is 
they  glorify  the  Lord  (xxi.  20).  And  thus  that 
unity  of  the  spirit  which  was  noted  in  the  last  sec- 
tion is  now  complete,  and  God's  people,  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Corinth,  are  one.  The  church  over  which 
James  presides  is  different  from  those  which  Paul 
has  planted,  in  that  it  is  composed  wholly  of  Jews, 
but  the  spirit  is  the  same,  and  Paul  is  received  as 
a  messenger  of  God.  But  he  has  been  slandered 
among  the  believers   in   Jerusalem.      No    wonder, 


214  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

He  has  been  slandered  everywhere,  so  that  he 
must  defend  himself  even  before  his  own  converts, 
the  Galatians  and  the  Corinthians.  James  is  anx- 
ious that  Paul  shall  have  an  unreserved  welcome 
among  the  many  Jews  who  believe.  He  says  they 
will  hear  that  he  has  come.  Hundreds  know  of 
his  arrival  already,  for  they  have  welcomed  him. 
The  words  "The  multitude  must  needs  come  to- 
gether" (v.  22)  are  not  genuine,  and  have  no 
place  in  the  corrected  text.  James  has  devised  a 
plan  by  which  Paul  may  purge  himself  of  the  false 
charges  circulated  against  him.  That  plan  is  to 
join  with  four  of  the  brethren  in  completing  a 
Nazarite  vow.  He  assures  Paul  that  this  course  on 
his  part  will  in  no  wise  involve  the  Gentile  breth- 
ren, for  the  church  in  Jerusalem  has  written  and 
concluded  that  they  shall  observe  no  such  thing. 
Paul,  of  course,  knew  this  decree,  but  James*  rep- 
etition of  it  assures  the  apostle  that  it  is  still  held 
to  be  binding.  Paul  does  not  hesitate  to  adopt  the 
course  recommended.  It  is  just  a  year  since  he 
wrote  to  the  Corinthians:  "Is  a  man  called  being 
circumcised?  Let  him  not  become  uncircumcised. 
Is  any  called  in    uncircumcision?      Let   him  not  be 

circumcised Let  every  man  abide   in  the 

same  calling  in  which  he  was  called."  (I.  Cor.  vii. 
18-20).  And  so  he  took  the  four  men,  and  entered 
into  the  temple  to  dwell  there,  in  order  to  be  free 
from  accidental  defilement.  He  had  notified  the 
officiating  priest  on  what  day  the  completing  c^  re- 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  215 

monies  of  the  vow  began  (v.  26)  so  that  at  their 
expiration  he,  with  the  other  four,  might  be  dis- 
charged. The  days  were  coming  to  a  close  when 
the  riot  blazed  up. 

Now  the  story  so  far  is  not  related  to  show  how 
James'  plan  miscarried.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
in  spite  of  the  interruption  it  did  not  reach  its  pur- 
pose toward  the  church.  The  story  is  told,  first  of 
all,  to  show  how  Paul  came  to  be  caught  by  his  en- 
emies in  the  temple,  and  secondly,  to  prove  the  in- 
justice of  the  Jews  in  assailing  him  at  the  very 
time  when  he  was  proving  himself  a  strict  adherent 
of  Moses.  In  other  words,  at  this  very  point  (xxi. 
27)  the  church  passes  wholly  off  of  the  stage  and 
Jerusalem  comes  to  view  in  its  unbelief  and  malice. 
It  was  not  believers  who  raised  the  cry  against 
Paul,  but  "Jews  which  were  of  Asia."  Whether 
James'  conciliating  device  succeeded  with  the 
church  or  did  not,  does  not  concern  Luke  here, 
who  is  bent  now  on  showing  how  badly  the  unbe- 
lievers behaved,  and  how  James'  charitable  device 
sets  out  that  behavior  in  black. 

It  is  Jerusalem  then  which  comes  before  us  at 
this  point.  On  this  account  there  is  no  further 
mention  of  James  or  the  church.  We  do  not 
know  where  Peter  or  any  of  the  other  apostles  are 
at  this  time.  These  do  not  concern  Luke.  He  is 
again  like  himself,  adhering  closely  to  his  task. 
The  church  in  some  of  its  members  welcomed 
Paul.     That  must  suffice  on  that  point.      But  here 


216  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

is  this  great  city.  Its  people  are  in  some  sense, 
indeed  in  a  deep  sense,  God's  people.  The  Saviour 
is  theirs.  The  gospel  is  theirs.  What  will  they 
do  with  the  Lord  and  his  Word?  This  is  the  mo- 
mentous question  of  the  hour,  and  to  this  the  his- 
tory addresses  itself. 

Paul  is  patiently  spending  the  time  in  some  one 
of  the  inner  courts  of  the  temple.  Some  Jews  of 
Asia,  who  have  come  to  Jerusalem,  no  doubt  to 
attend  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  recognize  him.  The 
bitterness  which  they  have  conceived  against  the 
apostle  in  that  distant  province  (xx.  19)  attends 
and  moves  them.  They  know  that  in  far  away 
Ephesus  he  brought  Jews  and  Gentiles  together  in 
the  church  and  in  this  way  made  little  of  Moses' 
laws.  To  see  him  now  in  the  austere  guise  of  a 
Nazarite  maddens  them.  They  would  look  upon 
him  as  a  hypocrite,  and  so,  without  calling  on  the 
temple  police  to  arrest  him,  they  lay  illegal  hands 
upon  him.  While  holding  him  they  address  the 
crowd,  and  bring  substantially  the  same  charge 
that  was  put  upon  Stephen  more  than  twenty  years 
before  (vi.  13).  They  say  that  Paul  respects 
neither  the  Law  nor  the  temple.  And  in  addition 
to  this  they  charge  him  with  bringing  heathen  into 
the  temple,  the  penalty  for  which  was  death.  Ma- 
licious fanaticism  can  always  stand  on  a  very  nar- 
row foundation,  and  Luke  gives  such  reasons  as 
these  Jews  had  for  asserting  that  Paul  had  polluted 
the  temple.     Their  evil  eye  had  been  on  him  before 


kEFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  217 

to-day  (v.  29).  They  had  seen  him  walk  the 
streets  with  Trophimus,  whom  they  knew.  And 
they  "supposed"  that  Paul  had  brought  him  within 
the  sacred  precincts.  Luke  would  show  the  malice 
of  their  hearts  when  he  relates  the  flimsy  pretext 
for  their  conduct.  A  riot  is  soon  on  foot.  Paul  is 
dragged  out  of  the  temple,  lest  the  crowd  rush  in 
and  pollute  it.  The  place  of  worship  was  more 
sacred  to  these  men  than  the  worshiper.  The  lat- 
ter they  try  to  kill.  The  tribune  stationed  with 
his  soldiers  in  the  castle  of  Antonia  on  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  temple  hears  of  the  tumult,  and 
comes  quickly  on  the  scene.  Paul  is  arrested,  not 
to  say  rescued.  The  chief  captain  tries  to  find  out 
what  is  the  cause  of  the  disturbance.  He  can 
make  nothing  out  of  the  discordant  howls  of  the 
crowd,  and  so  he  starts  with  his  captive  to  the 
castle.  Luke  gives  an  idea  of  the  violence  of  the 
mob  by  showing  how  they  pressed  upon  the  sol- 
diers. Paul  is  lifted  from  his  feet  and  b®rne  up  the 
stairs  of  the  castle  on  the  shoulders  of  the  Ro- 
mans. 

The  apostle  is  the  only  cool  man  in  this  critical 
hour.  He  sees  a  passing  chance  to  address  his 
countrymen,  perhaps  to  win  them.  He  seizes  on 
that  chance.  Very  respectfully  he  asks  leave,  in 
the  Greek  language,  of  the  tribune  to  speak  with 
him.  The  officer  having  thought,  as  is  plainly  im- 
plied, that  he  had  captured  a  rude  Egyptian  bandit 
is  astonished  to  find  his  prisoner  a  man  of  culture, 


218  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


and  so  exclaims,  "Canst  thou  speak  Greek?"  By  his 
language  the  tribune  is  sure  that  Paul  is  not  the 
man  who  had  raised  an  insurrection  against  the 
city,  and  had  recently  escaped  into  the  wilderness 
after  being  routed  by  Felix.  Paul  declares  who  he 
is;  he  is  not  an  Egyptian,  but  a  Jew,  not  from  the 
Nile,  but  from  the  north,  and  not  of  obscure  ori- 
gin. In  saying  that  he  belongs  to  Tarsus,  he  adds 
the  words,  "a  citizen  of  no  mean  or  insignificant 
city."  The  Roman  officer  would  feel  the  fores  of 
that.  Tarsus  was  in  high  favor  with  the  Roman 
government,  so  that  its  inhabitants  were  exempt 
from  taxation.  And  here  was  one  of  them.  Per- 
haps Rome's  officer  wrould  best  favor  him  and 
grant  his  simple  request  to  speak  to  the  people. 

The  "defense"  which  follows  is  not  an  abstract, 
intellectual  piece  like  that  on  Mars'  Hill,  nor  is  it 
like  that  in  the  synagogue  in  the  Pisidian  Antioch. 
It  is  the  story  of  Paul's  personal  religious  experi- 
ence. It  is  a  narration  of  facts  in  his  own  history, 
but  so  arranged  as  to  be  a  powerful  plea  for  his 
course  of  life  and  for  the  truth  of  the  gospel.  He 
begins  in  a  most  respectful  and  conciliatory  man- 
ner— "Brethren  and  fathers,  hear  ye  my  defense." 
The  heed  they  gave  because  he  spoke  in  the  He- 
brew (Aramaic)  language,  implies  that  they  rather 
expected  him  to  speak  in  Greek  and  that  they  could 
have  understood  him  in  the  latter  language.  The 
points  of  his  address  are  three:  — 

I.    His  present  beliefs  and  course  of  life  could  not 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  2<9 

have  issued   from   an   original   difference    between 
himself  and  his  hearers,  for   there  was   none  (xxii. 

3-5). 

II.  In  so   far  as  any   difference   existed   at   the 

present  time  it  was  to   be  accounted  for  by    God  s 
immediate  dealing  with  him  (vs.  6-i6). 

III.  As  to  his  affiliation  with  the  Gentiles,  God 
directly  sent  him  to   them.    (vs.   17-21). 

The  sum  of  all  this  is  that  Paul  could  be  and  do 
no  other  without  flying  in  the  face  of  God.  Or 
had  his  hearers  been  candid  men  some  of  them 
must  have  reflected  that  to  persecute  Paul  was  to 
oppose  God. 

Under  the  first  head  Paul  makes  three  points:  (a) 
he  is  a  Jew,  (b)  but,  while  of  foreign  birth,  he  was 
educated  in  Jerusalem  by  one  of  its  most  famous 
masters,  and  according  to  the  strict  law  of  the 
fathers;  (c)  he  was  as  zealous  against  the  "way"  of 
Christ  as  his  hearers  are  now.  The  last  could  be 
easily  proved  by  the  records  in  the  hands  of  the 
high-priest  and  the  elderhood  (v.  5).  Or,  briefly,  in 
blood,  in  training  and  in  religious  opinion  he  had 
been  what  his  hearers  were. 

This  prepares  the  way  for  the  second  argument. 
A  man  so  taught,  and  so  zealous  for  what  he  had 
learned,  how  could  he  be  so  different  now  unless 
there  has  been  a  divine  intervention?  Every  such 
change  is  an  argument  for  God  and  for  his  direct 
and  immediate  agency  in  the  hearts  of  believers. 
If  nature  is  uniform,  and  there  is   no  activity    out- 


220  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

side  and  above  her  laws,  why  in  one  hour  should 
the  persecuting  bigot  Saul  become  the  broad-minded 
Paul,  with  sympathies  as  tender  as  Christ's,  and  a 
love  as  wide  as  human  woe?  Character  is  as  stable 
as  the  hills  and  of  itself  will  no  more  change  than 
they  will  change  their  place.  Paul  was  once  as  full 
of  hate  against  the  "way"  as  he  is  now  full  of  love 
for  it.  Did  any  power  in  nature  turn  the  salt 
Dead  Sea  into  refreshing  water?  Paul's  proof  of 
his  second  point  lies  largely  in  his  first  one.  God 
changed  him.  He  tells  how.  (a)  The  scene  on 
the  persecuting  journey  to  Damascus  is  described, 
in  which  he  saw  a  supernatural  light  and  heard  a 
voice  saying,  "I  am  Jesus."  As  evidence  of  the  light 
he  calls  to  witness  his  fellow-travelers,  though  they 
heard  (understood)  not  (ix.  7)  the  voice.  The 
sound  they  got  but  not  the  sentiment.  Paul  relies 
for  argument  on  the  light  and  so  (v.  11)  repeats 
its  mention,  along  with  the  blinding  effect  which  it 
had  upon  him.  (b)  Ananias  acted  as  God's  mes- 
senger to  Paul  in  this  hour.  Here  the  defense 
grows  very  skillful.  First  of  all,  Paul  says  his 
helper  and  guide  was  every  way  a  good  Jew,  "a 
devout  man  according  to  the  Law,"  and  not  only 
so,  but  having  a  "good  report"  of  all  the  Jews  in 
Damascus.  That  he  was  a  "disciple"  is  not  men- 
tioned now  as  in  the  history  in  the  ninth  chapter. 
Again,  Paul  does  not  refer  to  the  fact  stated  in  the 
history  (ix)  that  this  devout  Jew  was  divinely  sent 
to  him,  but  leaves  the  impression    that  he  came  of 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  221 

himself.  Again,  this  good  Jew  not  only  wrought  a 
miracle,  a  proof  that  God  was  with  him,  in  restor- 
ing Paul  to  sight,  but  explained  to  him  that  God 
had  now  chosen  him  to  "know  his  will" — then  he 
had  not  known  it  when  he  was  like  his  hearers — 
and  that  he  should  be  his  witness  to  all  "men." 
The  word  Gentile  is  avoided  as  yet.  Again  this 
same  Ananias  urges  Paul  to  be  baptized  and  wash 
away  his  sins.  Then,  notwithstanding  his  educa- 
tion and  his  zeal  against  the  saints,  Paul  was  still 
a  sinner  in  need  of  divine  forgiveness.  Or,  to  sum 
up  the  argument  on  this  head,  it  was  God  who 
strikingly  arrested  Paul  in  his  former  course  and  a 
reputable  Jew  guided  him  into  his  present  one. 

As  to  the  third  point  in  the  defense,  Paul,  after 
his  conversion  and  baptism  in  Damascus,  did  not 
seek  to  go  to  the  Gentiles,  neither  did  he  wish  to 
go,  but  he  returned  to  Jerusalem  desirous  of  preach- 
ing the  gospel  to  those  of  his  own  blood.  But 
here  in  this  very  temple  (v.  17)  which  the  mob 
charged  him  with  polluting,  God  had  appeared  to 
him  and  in  this  temple  commanded  him  to  leave 
Jerusalem.  He  hesitated  to  obey,  so  eager  was 
he  to  remain,  and  actually  debated  the  question 
with  God  (vs.  19,  20)  when  the  divine  response  came 
sharp  and  decisive:  "Depart,  for  I  will  send  thee 
far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles." 

The  argument  is  complete  and  unanswerable. 
But  the  moment  Paul  utters  the  hated  word  Gentile, 
kept  back  in  the  fifteenth  verse,  the  smothered  fire 


222  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

of  fanatical  rage  burst  forth.  The  Jews  will  not 
believe  in  God's  mercy  toward  the  Gentiles.  And 
Paul,  who  was  not  permitted  to  preach  before  in 
Jerusalem,  is  now  utterly  rejected  in  his  very  first 
address  to  the  people  whom  he  loved.  God's 
gospel  is  rejected  with  him.  The  hostility  which 
greeted  him  on  his  utterance  of  the  word  Gentile  is 
unmistakable  in  its  violence.  There  is  every  Ori- 
ental expression  of  hatred  and  abhorrence.  They 
cried  out,  they  cast  off  their  outer  raiment,  they 
threw  dust  into  the  air.  The  tribune,  who  probably 
had  not  understood  one  word  of  the  speech,  deter- 
mines to  know  the  cause  of  all  this  violence,  and 
orders  that  Pari  be  scourged  that  he  may  confess 
his  crime. 

Luke  has  often  had  opportunity  to  show  how 
much  better  Gentiles  behaved  toward  the  gospel 
than  the  Jews.  Here  (xxii.  25-29)  he  sets  the 
spirit  of  the  governments  of  the  two  in  contrast. 
Paul  had  said  once  and  again  among  his  brethren, 
"I  am  a  Jew."  He  had  declared  how  his  course  at 
the  beginning  was  approved  by  a  devout  Jew  in  Da- 
mascus. But  it  avails  nothing.  "I  am  a  Jew"  has 
no  weight  among  Jews.  So  now  in  the  castle  of 
the  heathen  he  says,  "I  am  a  Roman,"  when  at 
once  thongs  fly  open,  chains  fall  off,  officers  trem- 
ble, and  hostile  purposes  cease.  The  tribune 
even  grows  confidential  and  companionable,  and 
tells  how  with  a  great  price  he  purchased  his  free 
Roman   citizenship.       Luke    shows    triumphantly 


kEFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  223 

how  much  better  it  is  for  Paul  to  be  a  Roman 
among  the  heathen  than  to  be  a  Jew  among  his 
fellow  countrymen.  Among  the  former  there  is 
respect  for  law  and  human  rights.  Among  the 
latter  rights  are  trampled  under  foot  and  unbeliev- 
ing hatred  of  the  gospel  and  its  minister  have 
usurped  the  place  of  righteous  order.  Israel  is  fast 
hastening  to  its  doom. 

The  people  have  rejected  the  gospel  in  the  per- 
son of  Paul,  that  gospel  which  must  embrace  the 
Gentiles  or  it  is  not  of  God.  What  will  the  council 
do?  The  tribune  incidentally  brought  an  answer 
to  that  question.  On  the  morrow  (xxii.  30),  that 
he  might  after  all  learn  why  Paul  was  arrested  by 
the  Jews,  he  commanded  the  council  to  assemble 
and  led  Paul  before  them.  The  council  that  had 
passed  upon  Jesus  and  passed  upon  Stephen,  shall 
have  one  more  opportunity,  and  its  last,  to  endorse 
the  truth.      The   nation's   supreme    hour  is    come. 

God  led  Paul  step  by  step  to  this  very  spot  where 
he  now  stands  before  the  governing  power  of  the 
Jews.  We  may  be  sure  that  the  apostle  found  to 
the  full  that  gracious  help  which  Christ  promised 
his  followers  (Matt.  x.  19,  20)  when  they  should 
be  brought  to  trial.  What  Paul  said  and  did  in 
this  council  is  not  the  outcome  of  passion  or  of 
cunning,  but  conduct  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Hence  Luke  records  the  fact  of  Paul's  "earnestly 
beholding"  the  council.  It  was  a  look  of  confidence 
and  not  of  hesitation  or  of  fear.      It  was  a  look  of 


224  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

inquiry  whether  there  was  or  was  not  any  chance 
for  a  verdict  in  the  Sanhedrin  in  favor  of  the  gos- 
pel. Without  any  formality  Paul  begins  just 
where  he  had  left  off  the  evening  before.  He  was 
conscientious  when  in  his  zeal  he  persecuted  the 
church,  he  has  been  conscientious  in  planting  and 
serving  the  church.  The  president  of  the  council, 
the  high-priest,  orders  him  to  be  smitten  in  the 
mouth.  The  decision  of  Israel's  case  is  quickly 
reached  and  Paul  announces  it — "God  shall  smite 
thee,  thou  whited  wall."  (xxiii.  3).  For  the 
judge  of  God's  holy  Law,  while  apparently  sitting 
in  defense  of  Moses,  was  trampling  him  in  the 
dust.  Paul's  language  is  like  Christ's  about  the 
Pharisees — whited  sepulchers,  fair  without,  foul 
within.  But  it  is  also  different.  The  high-priest 
was  a  beautified  wall.  A  wall  in  those  days  was 
significant  in  the  highest  degree  of  a  barrier.  Ju- 
daism, as  it  was  embodied  in  the  high-priest,  was 
a  wall  against  the  gospel.  God  would  smite  it 
down.      He  did  so  twelve  years  later. 

The  sycophants  about  the  president's  chair  cry 
out,  "Revilest  thou  God's  high-priest?"  Paul's  re- 
ply is  by  no  means  an  apology.  He  says,  "I  wist 
not  that  he  .was  the  high-priest."  Which  does  not 
mean  at  all  that  he  did  not  know  who  it  was  that 
commanded  him  to  be  smitten,  or  that  he  did  not 
know  who  occupied  the  president's  position.  Nei- 
ther is  it  ironical.  It  is  Paul's  solemn  assertion  that 
he  did  not  know  a  man  uttering  such  an  unjust  com- 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE 


mand  as  high-priest;  he  did  not  recognize  him  as 
high-priest  but  rather  as  a  tyrant.  Paul  had  the 
very  highest  respect  for  the  office,  but  the  man 
now  in  it  was  not  worthy  of  it.  "Thou  shalt  not 
speak  evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy  people"  (v.  5)  is  not 
Paul's  apology.  It  is  rather  his  significant  decla- 
ration that  Ananias  cannot  claim  the  protection 
of  this  Biblical  injunction.  He  is  not  ruling,  but 
is  acting  on  his  own  hateful  caprice.  John  the 
Baptist  did  not  hesitate  to  rebuke  Herod  for  his 
sin,  and  Jesus  called  the  same  man  a  fox.  Gov- 
ernmental offices,  high  and  low,  are  to  be  respected. 
And  those  who  are  in  them  must  be  honored  when 
they  honor  them.  But  when  they  use  them  as  an 
instrument  of  their  own  folly  the  proper  person,  at 
the  proper  time,  may  review  and  rebuke  their  con- 
duct. If  not,  then  the  office  preserves  the  man, 
however  base,  and  it  is  no  longer  true  that  the  man 
must  preserve  the  office. 

Paul  sees  at  this  early  stage  that  he  cannot  win 
the  council  as  a  whole.  He  cannot  get  even  #  fair 
hearing.  While  abroad  as  a  missionary  among  the 
heathen  it  was  his  custom  when  the  Jews  rejected 
him  to  turn  to  the  Gentiles.  His  course  is  some- 
thing similar  here.  He  notices  that  the  body 
before  which  he  stands  is  composed  in  part  of  Phar- 
isees and  in  part  of  Sadducees.  He  appeals  to  the 
former.  He  cries,  "I  am  a  Pharisee;  of  the  hope 
and  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question" 
(v.  6).      Thus  in  one  sentence  he  lifts  the  matter  at 


220  THE  ACTS  OF  THh  APOSTLES 

issue  out  of  the  mass  of  ceremonial  entanglements 
under  which  his  accusers  would  fain  bury  it.  Jesus 
made  his  apostles  witnesses  of  the  resurrection. 
This  was  their  solitary  theme  and  sole  offense. 
And  here  Paul  takes  his  stand  and  declares  that 
this  after  all  is  the  real  accusation  against  him.  It 
is  not  that  he  defiled  the  temple.  It  is  not  that  he 
persuaded  Jews  to  forsake  Moses.  It  was  that  in 
Jesus  he  preached  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 
Jesus  lived  and  died  a  Jew.  He  was  "made  un- 
der the  law"  (Gal.  iv.  4).  But  when  he  came  forth 
from  the  tomb  endowed  with  eternal  life  he  was 
no  longer  a  Jew,  no  more  so  than  is  the  Father 
(Rom.  iii.  29)  who  raised  him  from  the  dead. 
Resurrection  made  him  universal,  and  became  the 
death-blow  to  all  divisive  ceremonial.  Resurrec- 
tion was  the  knell  of  Pharisaism.  Hence  when 
Paul  writes  that  universal  letter,  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  he  begins  it  appropriately  with  a  mention 
of  the  raised  Christ,  and  weaves  this  doctrine  into 
the  whole  discussion.  If  Paul  found  no  difficulty 
in  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles  it  was  be- 
cause his  belief  in  the  resurrection  logically  drove 
him  there.  Now  the  Pharisees  stood  stoutly  for 
Moses.  They  were  not  ready  to  consort  with  the 
Gentiles.  But  they  had  a  theoretic  belief  in  the 
resurrection.  There  is  this  point  of  union  between 
them  and  Paul.  And  he  appeals  to  them  if,  per- 
chance, the  logic  of  their  belief  may  move  some  of 
them  to  the  position  to  which  he  as  a  Pharisee  was 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  221 

himself  brought.  It  is  not  strange  that  Pharisees 
became  preachers  to  the  heathen,  though  at  first 
sight  one  would  have  said  their  love  of  legal  purity 
would  have  made  them  the  last  to  burst  its  bounds. 
But  they  were  one  long  stride  ahead  of  the  Saddu- 
cees,  and,  by  their  belief  in  resurrection,  legalism 
was  bound  to  give  way,  and  to  this  belief  Paul  ap- 
peals. But  he  fails  again.  The  orthodox  party 
will  stand  by  him  as  a  champion  of  their  side,  but 
they  will  not  follow  him  to  the  logical  limits  of 
that  side.  His  bold  declaration  that  he  is  a  Phar- 
isee leads  to  nothing  but  a  squabble  in  which  the 
Pharisees  by  physical  force  attempt  to  keep  him, 
while  the  Sadducees  with  maddened  hate  try  to  get 
him  that  they  may  destroy  him.  Paul  was  in  dan- 
ger of  being  torn  to  pieces,  but  being  a  Roman, 
Lysias,  the  captain  of  the  guard,  was  bound  to 
protect  him,  and  so  he  rescues  him  from  the  striv- 
ing Jewish  factions. 

For  two  days  Paul  has  seen  nothing  but  strife 
and  turmoil.  He  was  but  flesh  and  blood.  God 
comes  to  cheer  him  (v.  11).  The  divine  voice  en- 
dorses what  he  has  done:  "Thou  hast  testified  of 
me  in  Jerusalem."  Then  the  apostle's  calling  the 
high-priest  a  whited  wall  was  not  in  human  passion, 
it  was  not  a  sin,  and  his  cry  in  the  council,  "I  am 
a  Pharisee,"  was  not  a  piece  of  worldly  cunning. 
Heaven  approves  the  whole  of  his  two  days'  utter- 
ances, and  assures  him  that  the  goal  for  which  he 
longed  shall  be  reached.      Paul   shall   bear  witness 


228  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

at  Rome  also.  The  Lord  has  spoken  it  and  it 
cannot  fail.  But  how  many  trials  lie  between 
Paul  and  the  city  of  the  Caesars!  He  has  yet 
much  to  undergo  before  he  can  see  the  world's 
capital. 

Luke's  object  in  the  next  paragraph  (vs.  12-22) 
is  very  plain.  It  shows  the  utter  moral  degrada- 
tion of  the  Jewish  council,  and  sets  this  degradation 
again  in  contrast  with  the  order  and  justice  of  the 
Roman  barrack.  The  tribune  preserves  the  life 
which  the  assassins  among  the  Jews  would  destroy. 
But  Luke  does  not  direct  attention  to  the  forty 
bloody-minded  men,  but  to  the  council.  As  soon 
as  he  mentions  them  he  shows  how  they  made 
their  purpose  known  to  the  council  and  how  the 
latter  became  the  willing  tool  of  the  conspirators. 
The  council  showed  itself  ready  to  work  through 
these  men  of  infernal  spirit.  The  council  had  be- 
come a  synagogue  of  Satan;  the  last  vestige  of 
truth  had  disappeared  from  it,  its  rejection  of  the 
gospel  was  complete,  and  we  hear  but  little  more 
of  it.  Its  ruin  will  soon  come  and  the  once  august 
body  will  assemble  no  more  on  earth.  Not  only 
its  members,  but  the  very  office  will   be  destroyed. 

The  concluding  paragraph  of  this  chapter  (xxiii. 
23~35)  and  of  the  section  is  in  the  same  line  with 
the  last.  It  shows  how  the  Roman  preserved  Paul 
and  by  what  means  he  placed  him  beyond  the  reach 
of  danger.  Luke  did  not  stop  to  show  how  Paul's 
nephew  became  aware  of  the  conspiracy.      Neither 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROM AN  CASTLE  229 

does  he  help  us  to  understand  how  the  young  man 
passed  the  guards  and  found  access  to  his  illus- 
trious uncle.  How  is  it  that  some  one  of  the 
forty  assassins  did  not  get  through  that  same 
guard,  find  his  way  to  Paul  and  plunge  the 
sword  until  now  concealed  under  his  mantle, 
into  the  apostle's  heart?  Luke  is  concerned  with 
none  of  this.  But  when  the  tribune  learns  from 
Paul's  sister's  son  of  the  conspiracy  on  foot  it  is 
plain  that  he  is  greatly  impressed.  The  situation 
is  graver  than  he  had  thought.  For  he  orders  out 
a  small  army,  with  soldiers  of  every  sort,  the  light- 
armed  men,  the  cavalry,  the  heavy-armed  foot- 
men. The  gravity  of  the  emergency  is  seen  in 
the  extent  of  the  preparation  against  it. 

Two  things  are  to  be  noted  in  this  paragraph. 
First,  it  abounds  in  details.  There  are  many 
things  which  we  would  be  glad  to  know  at  the 
moment  when  Paul  leaves  Jerusalem  never  to  see 
it  again.  What  were  the  thoughts  of  his  great 
heart?  Did  he  communicate  with  James  and  the 
elders?  Did  he  have  an  opportunity  to  say  fare- 
well to  his  kinsfolk?  Luke  omits  everything  else 
to  write  minutely  how  the  order  and  discipline  of 
the  Roman  world  rescued  Paul  and  defeated  the 
hate  of  Judaism.  He  tells  the  number  of  soldiers, 
the  number  of  their  commanders,  he  describes  the 
journey  and  makes  us  to  see  the  whole  event  as 
distinctly  as  if  we  had  been  there.  We  can  almost 
hear  the  rattling  of  the   soldiers'    sabers,    and  the 


830  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

clang  of  the  horses'  hoofs  as  they  start  down  the 
road  to  Antipatris.  If  Luke  lingers  thus  over  the 
story  and  fills  it  with  details  he  must  intend  to  show 
how  God's  invisible  hand  could  use  the  world 
power,  which  he  had  ordained,  to  serve  him  in  pro- 
tecting his  servant  from  apostate  Judaism.  Those 
who  have  fallen  from  right  are  ever  more  mis- 
chievous than  those  who  never  professed  the  right. 
For  in  this  case  pure  heathenism,  with  its  natural 
sense  of  justice,  did  more  to  promote  the  kingdom 
than  those  who  professed  to  know  God,  but  did 
not.  At  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  Pilate  was  bad, 
but  by  no  means  so  bad  as  the  Jews  (iii.  13). 

The  second  point  to  be  noticed  here  is  the  letter 
of  Lysias.  Luke  thought  it  worth  while  to  secure 
a  copy  of  this  document  and  present  it  here  in  his 
account.  Why?  Because  it  exhibits  again  the 
general  care  of  the  Roman  for  Paul  when  the  Jews 
would  destroy  him,  but  more  than  all,  to  set  forth 
that  it  was  Romanism  itself  that  saved  Paul,  and 
not  the  man  who  administered  it.  For  Lysias  is 
guilty  of  a  falsehood  in  this  communication  to  the 
governor.  He  writes  that  with  an  armed  force  he 
rescued  Paul  because  he  understood  that  he  was  a 
Roman.  The  fact  in  the  case  is  already  before  us. 
Lysias  arrested  Paul,  thinking  he  was  an  Egyptian 
bandit,  and  was  about  to  scourge  him  when  Paul 
claimed  the  rights  of  Roman  citizenship.  And 
these  rights  not  only  protected  Paul,  but  forced 
Lysias  to  protect  him.      It  was  not  the    man  that 


REFUGE  IN  THE  ROMAN  CASTLE  231 

succored  Paul,  but  the  government  which  God  had 
appointed  and  was  now  using  for  gracious  ends. 
The  letter  gives  an  insight  into  Roman  law.  The 
accused  must  have  the  accuser  before  him,  and 
the  charge  must  be  proved.  Lysias  commanded  the 
Jews,  he  says,  to  appear  against  Paul  before  Felix. 
But  he  intimates  that  the  points  in  dispute  are  not 
serious,  being  nothing  more  than  questions  of  Jew- 
ish law,  and  so  far  he  speaks  a  good  word  for  the 
prisoner. 

And  now  that  Paul  is  back  in  Caesarea  within  a 
very  few  days  after  Agabus  predicted  his  trouble, 
we  see  that  his  conflict,  though  sharp,  had  not 
been  long.  He  is  in  prison,  but  he  is  safe  from 
the  malice  of  the  Jews,  and  no  doubt  feels  a  sense 
of  rest. 


232  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  XVIII 

THE  GOSPEL   REJECTED  BY    THE    JEWS  IS  FORCED  TO 
APPEAL  TO  ROME 

Acts  xxiv-xxvi 

That  the  Jews  as  a  nation  refused  to  accept  Jesus 
as  the  Messiah  and  so  lost  their  religious  standing 
in  the  world  was  one  of  the  most  stupendous  facts 
of  the  period  embraced  by  Luke's  history.  The 
profound  impression  which  this  failure  made  is 
reflected  in  the  constant  notice  of  it  in  the  New 
Testament  books.  Its  writers,  themselves  Jews, 
are  painfully  affected  by  it.  It  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  show  that  the  gospels,  especially  Matthew's, 
never  forget  the  Jew's  fatal  conduct.  It  is  noted 
again  and  again  in  the  epistles,  (Rom.  ix.  1-5;  x. 
I,  2;  II  Cor.  iii.  15;  Gal.  iv.  25;  I  Thess.  ii. 
14-16;  I  Pet.  ii.  8).  The  Jew's  course,  so  carefully 
exhibited,  furnishes,  though  seldom  condemned,  an 
uncolored  history  to  the  reader  as  a  sufficient  jus- 
tification of  Israel's  rejection. 

The  transfer  of  the  divine  favor  to  the  Gentiles 
being  so  striking  it  is  no  wonder  that  Luke  portrays 
the  account  at  length.  As  we  have  already  seen, 
he  detailed  in  long  paragraphs  (chaps,  vi.-xi.)  how 
the  gospel  first  went  to  the  heathen.  And  here 
now  his  account  becomes  very  full  in  showing  the 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  233 

completion  of  the  matter  in  the  obstinacy    of  the 
Jew. 

The  section  before  us  is  very  much  like  the  latter 
part  of  the  preceding  one.  It  covers  a  period  of 
two  years  in  which  there  is  little  advance.  The 
stream  flows  in  a  circle  before  it  flows  on  again. 
But  on  its  surface  we  see  the  foaming  hate  of  Jeru- 
salem against  the  great  preacher  of  the  truth  and 
the  injustice  which  compels  him  to  appeal  to  Rome. 
Surely  the  Jew  has  forfeited  the  mercy  of  the  gos- 
pel. And  yet  that  gospel  hovered  near  him  until 
it  had  to  fly  for  its  existence.  While  it  was  divine- 
ly intended  that  Paul  should  go  to  Rome,  the  Jew's 
infidelity  and  Roman  official  cupidity  made  it  nee-* 
essary. 

Luke  gives  us  first  of  all  some  notes  of  time. 
All  along  he  has  been  most  sparing  of  these.  Five 
days  (xxiv.  i)  after  Paul's  departure  from  Jerusa- 
lem the  high-priest  comes  to  prosecute  him.  Jew- 
ish hatred  is  hot  after  the  prey.  It  is  but  twelve 
days  (v.  n).  since  Paul  landed  at  Caesarea  on  his 
way  to  Jerusalem.  But  when  two  long  years  have 
elapsed  (v.  27)  Paul  is  still  in  bonds.  Mercy  de- 
parts with  slow  steps.  The  Jew  has  abundant  time 
for  reflection  and  repentance.  But  after  two  years 
he  is  no  better.  The  period  embraced  here  is 
from  the  early  summer  of  58  A.  D.  to  the  autumn 
of  60. 

The  trial  before  Felix  shows  one  step  in  advance 
in  thd  perverseness  of  the  Jew.     When  Jesus  stood 


234  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

before  Pilate  trfe  members  of  the  council  took  mat- 
ters in  their  own  hands,  and  drove  the  governor 
into  doing  as  they  wished.  Here  they  come  with 
the  most  abject  flattery  to  the  heathen  who  was 
their  hated  master.  It  may  be  that  Tertullus,  the 
hired  orator,  was  himself  a  Roman  advocate,  as 
Baumgarten  claims,  but  Luke  neither  makes  it 
plain  nor  does  he  make  a  point  of  it.  The  first 
thing  to  which  he  calls  attention  is  the  orator's 
fulsome  praise,  which  was  in  the  main,  as  was  then 
well  known,  untrue.  Israel,  in  this  speaker,  can 
fawn  on  a  heathen  to  get  judgment  against  a  man 
who  has  preached  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  Ter- 
tullus, after  applying  an  epithet  to  Paul  which  the 
apostle  does  not  deign  to  notice,  brings  a  threefold 
charge  against  him. 

(a)  Sedition  on  a  wide  field,  (b)  Heresy,  "a 
ringleader  of  the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes"  (v.  5), 
and  (c)  Sacrilege,  "hath  gone  about  to  profane  the 
temple."  Verse  seven,  with  a  part  of  the  eighth, 
is  not  genuine  according  to  the  Revised  version. 
To  these  false  charges  the  Jews  heartily  assent. 
Paul  makes  answer  as  follows: —    - 


IV.      Sacrilege^ 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  235 

I.     Exordium,  v.    10. 

(  (a)  The  time  too  short,  v.  n. 

II.  Sedition  <  (b)   His  conduct  disproves  it,  v.  12. 

((c)   No  proof  of  it,  v.   13. 

f  (a)   He  believes    the   Jews'  Script- 
ures, v.   14. 

III.  Heresy  ^  (b)   Has  the  same  hope,  v.  15. 

I  (c)   He  lives  in  view  of  that  hope, 
[  v.    16. 

f  (a)  He  brought  alms  to  his  nation 
and  offerings  to  the  temple, 
v.   17. 

(b)  He  was  found  "purified"  in 
the  temple,  v.   18. 

(c)  The  competent  witnesses  are 
not  present,  v.   19. 

(d)  A  challenge  to  those  present 
as  to  his  conduct  in  the 
council,  vs.  20,  21. 

But  any  analysis  is  but  the  skeleton  without 
flesh,  blood  and  life.  The  speech  itself  must  be 
considered.  Compare  Paul's  dignified,  truthful 
exordium  with  the  flattering  mendacity  with  which 
Tertullus  began  his  address  to  Felix.  Paul  merely 
says  that  he  is  glad  to  speak  before  one  who  has 
been  so  long  in  the  midst  of  Jewish  affairs  that  he 
is  now  an  intelligent  hearer. 

As  to  the  charge  of  sedition,  it  is  but  twelve 
days  since  Paul  went  up  to  Jerusalem.  Half  of 
this  time  was  spent  in  the  temple  as  a  Nazarite, 
the  other  half  as  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Ro- 
mans.     There  was  little  chance  to    foment   rebell- 


230  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


ion  here.  Moreover,  the  time  being  so  short,  the 
governor  could  "understand"  on  inquiry,  whether 
the  charge  was  well  founded.  As  to  his  being  dis- 
putatious or  disorderly  at  any  time  or  anywhere 
while  in  the  city,  Paul  enters  a  sweeping  denial. 
Sedition  cannot  be  proved. 

The  accusation  that  he  is  a  ringleader  of  the  sect 
of  the  Nazarenes  is  met  with  the  claim  that  he  and 
the  Pharisees  are  at  one  in  their  beliefs.  First,  they 
"call"  his  way  heresy.  They  have  devised  the 
phrase,  "sect  of  the  Nazarenes,"  used  here  for  the 
first  time,  but  it  is  unjust,  for  Paul  worships  the 
God  of  the  Jews.  He  believes  the  same  Scriptures, 
he  has  the  same  hope,  and,  in  view  of  that  hope  of 
a  resurrection,  he  lives  conscientiously.  It  may  be 
well  to  observe  that,  by  the  same  reasoning,  the 
term  sectarian,  as  applied  to  different  denominations 
of  Christians,  to-day,  is  unjust.  For  they  all  have 
the  same  God,  the  same  Bible  and  the  same  hope. 

But  why  does  Paul  insist  on  the  essential  likeness 
between  his  faith  and  Judaism?  Not  only  because 
it  is  true,  but  that  he  himself  may  find  shelter  un- 
der the  Roman  law.  This  law  tolerated  Judaism. 
It  would  not  countenance  a  new  religion.  If  Paul's 
teaching  is  fundamentally  like  that  of  Judaism  he 
can  claim  the  protection  of  Rome.  It  is  here  we 
see,  for  the  first  time,  what  all  history  since  has  re- 
peated, that  in  reforms  the  old  is  intolerant  and 
drives  out  the  new.  Joseph  was  of  the  same  fam- 
ily and  blood  as  his  brethren,  and  would  have  gladly 


EORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  23^ 


remained  in  the  household.  But  when  he  disal- 
lowed their  evil  ways  (Gen.  xxxvii.  2)  they  thrust 
him  out.  It  is  much  easier  to  shake  off  the  reform- 
er than  to  reform. 

Paul's  defense  on  this  point  surely  implies  that 
within  five  or  six  days  there  had  been  a  revolution 
of  sentiment  in  Jerusalem.  The  Pharisees  had 
defended  him  stoutly  in  the  council  less  than  a 
week  ago.  They  are  accusing  him  before  Felix, 
for  all  his  speech  is  pointed  against  them. 

It  has  been  a  wonder  to  some  how  Paul  could 
say  that  he  believed  "all  things  which  are  written 
in  the  Law  and  in  the  prophets."  This  mistaken 
wonder  implies  that  while  the  members  of  the  coun- 
cil might  claim  belief  in  the  Bible,  the  apostle 
could  not.  The  reverse  is  the  truth.  The  Rabbis 
were  charging  Paul  with  the  sin  of  which  they 
alone  were  guilty.  To  be  sure  Paul  preached  that 
Gentiles  could  be  saved  without  circumcision.  He 
associated  converted  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  the 
church,  thus  making  nothing  of  ceremonial  dis- 
tinctions. And  for  this  he  was  accused  of  infidel- 
ity. But  to  believe  the  Bible  is  something  more 
than  to  believe  its  letter  and  sometimes  something 
different.  It  is  to  believe  what  God  intended  by 
the  letter.  If  the  Scriptures  taught  circumcision 
and  other  ceremonies,  Paul  knew  their  intent  and 
their  limitations.  He  knew  and  defined  the  object 
of  the  Law  (Gal.  iii.  24).  He  saw  no  antithesis  be- 
tween his  teaching  and  that  of  Moses  (Rom.   iii.  31, 


S38  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Gal.  iii.  21).  He  looked  upon  the  Law  with  great 
reverence  and  called  it  glorious  (II  Cor.  iii.  7). 
As  to  the  prophets  he  believed  them,  for  was  he 
not  convinced  that  they  foretold  the  very  Jesus 
whom  he  preached  and  the  leading  facts  in  his  his- 
tory, his  death  and  resurrection?  And  how  could 
Paul's  accusers  claim  to  believe  these  same  proph- 
ets when  they  denied  him  of  whom  they  spoke?  It 
was  not  Paul  who  was  violating  the  Word.  It  was 
the  Pharisees. 

It  is  not  without  reason  that  Luke  records  this 
declaration  of  the  apostle's  faith  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures.  The  very  wonder  which  the  state- 
ment excites  shows  the  need  of  preserving  it  in  the 
history.  For  those  who  stumble  at  it  must  have 
supposed  that  in  some  sense  Paul's  teaching  ran 
counter  to  that  of  Moses.  It  does  not,  and  this 
expressed  belief  of  the  apostle  is  needed  testimony 
to  the  value  of  the  Old  Testament.  His  belief  cost 
him  everything  dear  to  the  human  heart,  property, 
rank,  ease,  honor.  He  certainly  did  not  sacrifice 
these  without  good  reason,  and  that  reason  could 
not  exist  without  a  diligent  scrutiny  of  God's  Word. 
He  believed  the  Scriptures,  as  he  had  them,  to  be 
of  God  and  pronounced  them  "profitable"  (II  Tim. 
iii.  16). 

When  Paul's  defense  comes  to  the  third  charge 
brought  against  him,  only  his  tone,  which  we  may 
be  certain  was  tender,  could  save  him  from  being 
severe.       So   far   from    polluting  the  temple,    his 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  239 

affection  for  it,  not  cooled  by  many  years'  absence, 
led  him  to  bring  alms  and  offerings,  the  latter  to 
be  presented  in  the  temple  (v.  17).  Instead  of 
defiling  God's  house  he  was  found  "purified"  in  it, 
observing  its  ordinances  in  quiet,  apart  from  the 
crowd.  Paul  knew  his  rights.  Those  who  found 
him  in  the  temple  were  some  Asiatic  Jews.  They 
only  could  be  witnesses  and  they  were  not  here. 
Such  as  were  present  could  testify  to  his  conduct 
in  the  council.  And  just  here,  before  he  concludes. 
(v.  21)  he  leaves  the  point  about  sacrilege,  to  press 
once  more,  in  a  way  not  to  be  forgotten,  the  ques- 
tion of  resurrection,  a  question  which  put  Pharisees 
in  a  very  awkward  attitude  as  prosecutors.  He 
challenges  them  in  this  closing  word — whose  irony 
even  the  tenderest  inflection  could  not  conceal — 
what  was  his  "evil"  in  the  council  except  the  avowal 
of  his  belief  in  their  own  distinctive  doctrine,  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  for  which  avowal  they  had 
fought  in  his  defense.  This  surely  would  not  con- 
ciliate his  accusers,  the  hour  for  that  is  forever 
past,  but  it  would  stop  their  mouths  and  leave 
them  in  a  bad  light  before  the  governor. 

Luke  concludes  the  trial  with  some  notes  about 
Felix.  Nothing  has  been  proven  against  the  prisoner 
and  yet  the  governor  does  not  release  him.  Felix 
testifies  to  the  lack  of  proof  in  that  he  makes  Paul's 
further  imprisonment  exceedingly  light  (v.  23). 
The  excuse  that  he  gives  for  detaining  Paul,  that  he 
might  hear  the  chief  captain  (v.   22),  is   surely  not 


240  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

sincere.  Lysias  has  already  testified  in  his  letter. 
Could  he  add  anything  that  has  not  been  brought 
out  on  the  trial?  Had  this  judge  been  righteous 
Paul  would  have  been  set  at  liberty.  Luke  now 
draws  a  picture  of  his  character  because  it  is  a 
large  factor  in  the  forces  that  drove  Paul  to  Rome. 
Hence  we  are  told  the  appropriate  themes  of  Paul's 
discourse  in  the  audience  of  this  man.  We  are 
informed  of  his  quailing  before  the  sermon 
on  righteousness,  self-control,  and  judgment  to 
come.  He  was  not  convicted  but  he  was  fright- 
ened. We  are  told  that  his  wife  was  a  Jewess,  a 
hint  at  the  unholy  relations  between  the  two  which 
were  set  in  their  true  light  by  the  timely,  uncom- 
promising words  on  upright  conduct  and  self-re- 
straint. Felix,  like  Herod  Antipas,  heard  and  feared 
(Mark  vi.  20)  but  he  did  not  reform.  In  the  face 
of  the  truth  that  he  has  heard  he  seeks  a  bribe 
again  and  again,  and  after  two  years  of  illegal  de- 
lay to  do  justice  he  crowns  his  infamy  by  sacrific- 
ing an  innocent  man's  liberty  on  the  altar  of  his 
own  selfishness.  Paul,  whom  Felix  respected,  is 
left  in  chains,  a  bribe  for  the  favor  of  the  Jews, 
whom  Felix  despised.  And  now  a  new  governor 
comes  to  the  province  of  Judea,  and  Paul  must 
tread  the  weary  round  of  trial  and  defense  once 
more.  Festus  was  a  better  man  morally  than 
Felix,  but  Paul,  and  the  gospel  whose  exponent  he 
was,  fared  no  better  in  his  presence. 

It  will  be  noticed  in  a  single  reading  (chap,  xxv.) 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  241 

that  Luke  does  not  give  the  details  of  this  second 
trial  in  Caesarea.  In  the  previous  one  we  have  a 
full  account,  the  speech  of  Tertullus,  the  reply  of 
the  apostle,  and  then  a  picture  of  the  unjust  judge. 
Here  we  have  only  the  outline  of  the  legal  pro- 
ceedings, but  not  a  little  about  him  before  whom 
they  were  held.  Luke  wishes  us  to  know  Festus, 
for  it  was  the  governor's  crooked  course  that  com- 
pelled Paul  to  appeal  to  Caesar,  and  so  Festus  is 
the  principal  figure  in  the  picture  now  held  up  to 
view. 

The  notes  of  time  to  which  Luke  again  resorts 
serve  to  set  out  the  active,  busy  man  who  goes 
about  his  new  duties  with  alacrity.  He  was  quicker 
at  work  than  at  justice.  He  comes  to  Caesarea 
and  rests  the  next  day.  The  third  he  is  off  for 
Jerusalem.  The  enemies  of  Paul  seize  on  the  op- 
portunity of  his  visit  to  renew  their  case  against 
the  apostle.  The  answer  they  receive  (v.  4)  is  not 
favorable  to  their  plans.  The  governor  moves  rap- 
idly. He  is  going  back  to  Caesarea  "shortly." 
He  stays  in  the  city  but  little  more  than  "ten" 
days  and  the  very  "next"  day  (v.  6)  after  reaching 
home  Paul  is  put  to  trial  once  more.  But  the 
notes  of  time  continue.  If  for  some  reason  Fes- 
tus could  not  report  Paul's  case  to  Agrippa  until 
the  king  had  "been  there  many  days"  (v.  14)  he 
claims  at  least  that  he  had  tried  the  apostle  "with- 
out any  delay."  And  when  the  king  expresses  a 
desire  to  be  brought  before  the  apostle  the  prompt 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


answer  is:  "To-morrow  thou  shalt  hear  him"  (v.  22). 
It  is  this  active  spirit,  impatient  of  delay,  that  must 
have  incited  Festus  to  interrupt  Paul  (xxvi.  24)  in 
his  defense.  He  probably  felt  that  the  prisoner 
was  talking  too  long.  In  the  hands  of  this  nervous 
man  of  dispatch  it  might  be  supposed  that  the  un- 
just bonds  would  quickly  fall  off.  But  instead,  in 
just  the  place  where  Paul's  liberty  is  concerned, 
Festus  tarried  "many  days"  (v.    14). 

The  Jews  who  opposed  Paul  are  noticed  once 
more  and  finally.  There  is  nothing  new,  and  so 
the  story  is  brief.  And  because  it  is  not  new  it  is 
terrible.  It  is  two  years  since  some  desperate 
men  proposed  to  assassinate  Paul  (xxiii.  12).  The 
council  assented  to  their  plan  then.  They  have 
adopted  it  now  (v.  3).  Is  not  the  gospel  bound 
to  leave  the  city  whose  spiritual  rulers  have  be- 
come murderers?  And  yet  how  slow  mercy  is  to 
depart  and  judgment  to  fall.  Of  the  trial  Luke 
says  only  a  word.  The  charges  are  not  mentioned 
this  time,  but  from  the  brief  notice  of  Paul's  reply 
(v.  8)  they  must  have  been  identical  with  those 
presented  before  Felix.  They  were  proved  false 
then,  but  the  Jews  have  nothing  better  now,  and 
Festus  sees  their  groundlessness  quite  as  readily  as 
did  Felix.  But  Festus  is  like  Felix  in  another  re- 
spect. He  was  "willing  to  do  the  Jews  a  pleasure." 
Convinced  of  Paul's  innocence  he  yet  proposes  to 
send  him  back  to  Jerusalem  to  be  tried  before  him- 
self.     But  Paul  has  now  stood   before  him  and  has 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  243 

been  denied  justice.  What  likelihood  was  there 
that  he  would  gain  it  in  a  second  trial  where  every- 
thing would  turn  on  Jewish  laws  and  questions 
about  which  Festus  knew  nothing?  And  thus  after 
many  details  Luke  has  led  the  story  to  its  climax. 
Paul  has  but  one  resource  left.  Festus  will  not 
release  him;  to  go  back  to  Jerusalem  is  death.  He 
appeals  to  Caesar.  It  is  a  radical  step,  but  the 
apostle's  speech  of  appeal  (vs.  10,  11)  completely 
vindicates  his  course.  The  malice  of  the  Jews  and 
the  venality  of  the  two  Roman  governors  brought 
it  about. 

Festus  is  certainly  nonplussed  by  the  apostle's 
sharp  turn.  The  governor  knows  what  promptness 
is  and  where  he  failed  in  it  the  prisoner  defeated 
him.  His  injustice  has  left  him  in  an  awkward 
place.  He  refused  to  release  an  innocent  man 
and  that  man  has  appealed  to  Caesar.  How  will 
Festus  stand  before  Caesar  in  this  case?  No  won- 
der that  he  "conferred"  with  his  council  (v.  12). 
But  they  could  not  help  him  out  of  his  own  trap 
in  which  he  was  caught.  The  cry  "I  appeal"  was 
omnipotent  in  the  Roman  empire,  and  so  the  gov- 
ernor must  say:   "Unto  Caesar  shalt  thou  go." 

From  a  time  two  years  earlier  in  this  history, 
that  is,  from  the  time  that  Paul's  speech  was  con- 
cluded on  the  stairs  of  the  castle  in  Jerusalem,  up 
until  the  present  hour,  Luke  has  made  another 
feature  of  the  story  plain  as  day.  It  was  not  men, 
Lysias,  Felix,  Festus,  but  the  Roman  constitution, 


24 1  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

that  shielded  the  apostle.  Lysias  would  have 
scourged  him,  but  the  law  of  Rome  forbade  it. 
Both  Felix  and  Festus  would  have  released  him  to 
the  Jews,  but  the  law  stood  in  the  way.  Festus 
Would  have  sent  him  to  Jerusalem  for  trial,  which 
simply  meant  assassination  on  the  way  thither,  and 
Paul  saved  himself  by  appeal  to  the  Roman  stat- 
ute. Shall  it  be  said  that  the  law  was  merely  ad- 
ventitious? Or  must  we  look  deeper?  Did  Paul 
simply  take  advantage  of  what  he  found,  or  did  he 
who  ordained  the  powers  ordain  them  that  they 
might  be  found  at  this  time  by  his  servant  ?  Cer- 
tainly the  God  who  saved  Peter  from  Herod's 
sword  by  a  miracle  is  wise  enough  to  have  created 
an  empire  to  save  Paul  by  law.  If  the  Samaritans 
were  preserved  for  six  hundred  years  to  be  a  step- 
ping-stone from  Judaism  to  heathenism,  the  im- 
perial constitution  may  have  been  formed  to  pre- 
serve the  gospel  in  its  beginnings  in  that  same 
heathenism.  When  the  famine  is  pressing  hard 
on  Jacob  in  the  promised  land  he  finds  that  God 
has  gone  before  and  prepared  sustenance  for  him 
in  Egypt.  The  Jews  had  a  constitution  superior 
to  that  of  Rome,  but  its  officers  had  trampled  it 
under  foot.  Felix  and  Festus  were  no  better  men 
than  the  Sanhedrists,  but  law  was  still  supreme  in 
the  empire. 

But  before  Paul  sails  for  Rome,  Luke  has  an- 
other matter  to  record — the  apostle's  speech  be- 
fore Agrippa  II.,  son  of  Herod  who  was    eaten  by 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  245 

worms,  great-grandson  of  Herod  the  Great,  and 
grand-nephew  of  Herod  Antipas,  who  beheaded 
John  the  Baptist.  He  was  about  thirty-three 
years  old  at  this  time,  and  died  in  the  year  ioo  A. 
D.,  the  last  of  the  Herods,  and,  as  a  descendant  of 
Mariamne,  the  last  of  the  Maccabees.  He  ruled  the 
little  country  east  of  the  Jordan  called  Trachonitis, 
and  had  been  king  now  ten  years.  It  was  before 
him  that  Paul  was  brought.  Luke  shows  how,  and 
records  the  speech  made,  that  the  reader  may  have 
a  further  view  of  the  character  of  Festus,  that  it 
may  be  made  clear  as  sunlight  that  Paul  was  un- 
justly held  in  chains,  and  that  it  may  be  seen  how 
the  apostle  persuaded  men. 

Apparently  Festus  and  Agrippa  were  friends. 
The  king  had  come  to  salute  the  governor.  But 
he  had  been  there  "many  days,"  spent  no  doubt  in 
royal  festivities  in  which  Paul  was  forgotten.  At 
the  end  of  these  the  governor  addresses  himself  to 
business  again  and  tells  the  king  about  Paul.  He 
rehearses  the  story  already  well  known  to  the 
reader  of  the  book  of  Acts,  so  that  it  might  be 
asked,  Why  is  it  repeated?  It  is  Luke's  fashion  to 
hurry  to  the  point  which  he  wishes  to  make,  and 
then  linger  before  he  makes  it.  How  did  Paul 
spend  the  two  years  in  Felix's  prison?  There  is 
not  a  word.  But  Luke  gave  every  step  leading  up 
to  Paul's  appeal,  and  now  he  gives  every  one  lead- 
ing up  to  the  defense  before  Agrippa,  even  though 
be  must  tread  a  former  path  again.      But  in  Fes- 


216  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

tus'  rehearsal  of  matters  some  things  are  signifi- 
cant. Why  does  he  burden  his  guest  with  a  mat- 
ter of  business?  Because  he  is  a  Jew  and  may 
help  the  governor  in  the  trouble  which  he  has 
brought  upon  himself.  In  telling  of  Paul's  trial 
Festus  speaks  altogether  in  general  terms  with  one 
exception.  This  single  item  was  "of  one  Jesus 
which  was  dead  whom  Paul  affirmed  to  be  alive" 
(v.  19).  Judaism  was  allowed  by  Roman  law. 
But  might  not  this  belief  in  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  be  an  excuse  for  sending  Paul  to  Rome? 
Apparently  Festus  has  caught  at  this  straw.  He 
proceeds  to  explain  how  Paul  came  to  appeal. 
And  here  again,  as  in  the  case  of  Lysias  in  writing 
his  letter,  Festus  does  himself  more  justice  than  he 
shows  to  the  truth.  Festus  says  that  "because 
he  doubted  of  such  manner  of  questions"  he  was 
about  to  send  Paul  to  Jerusalem.  But  Luke  leaves 
the  decided  impression  (v.  9)  that  this  was  not  the 
governor's  reason.  It  was  to  gain  Jewish  favor, 
and  that  too  when  he  knew  "very  well,"  as  Paul 
told  him  to  his  face,  that  the  man  on  trial  was 
innocent.  His  unjust  proposal  turned  against  him, 
and  now  he  pretends  that  the  appeal  occurred  be- 
cause he  had  an  honest  doubt.  And  Lysias  res- 
cued Paul  because  he  "understood  that  he  was  a 
Roman"  (xxiii.  27)!  Little  did  these  men  think 
that  the  eye  of  God  was  upon  them,  and  that  what 
they  said  and  wrote  was  noted  so  that  it  has  been 
scanned  by  centuries  and  will  meet  them  at   that 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  247 

resurrection  of  which  their  prisoner  preached. 
"How  little  do  men  think  that  the  secrets  of  the 
most  private  letter,  the  counsels  of  the  cabinet,  the 
movements  of  kings,  of  governors,  and  of  ministers 
of  state,  of  military  chiefs,  and  their  men,  no  mat- 
ter who  or  what,  are  all  open  before  God,  who 
sees  all  and  forgets  nothing." 

While  the  perplexed  governor  is  seeking  advice 
he  must  have  been  happily  surprised  at  the  interest 
of  Agrippa  in  the  matter,  who  courteously  expresses 
a  desire  to  hear  Paul.  The  answer  is  prompt: 
"To-morrow  thou  shalt  hear."  If  Agrippa  is  to  give 
advice,  he  is  astute  enough  to  withhold  it  until  he 
knows  the  facts.      And  so  Paul  must  be  heard  again. 

The  morrow  came  and  with  it  such  an  audience 
as  had  never  greeted  Paul  before,  a  king,  a  princess, 
a  Roman  governor,  the  military  officers,  and  the 
leading  men  of  the  city.  He  had,  we  may  feel 
sure,  a  more  intelligent  company  before  him  on 
Mars'  Hill,  but  never  one  embracing  so  much  of 
earthly  rank  and  power.  Paul's  chains  gave  him 
this  audience.  But  while  he  is  a  prisoner,  it  is 
noted  that  the  king  and  his  sister  come  before 
him  with  much  display.  It  is  not  the  judge  now 
on  the  official  seat  in  official  robes,  who  hears  Paul. 
It  is  rather  a  high-class  audience  present  to  hear 
the  gospel.  And  Jesus,  who  promised  such  things 
(Mark  xiii.  9),  is  fulfilling  them.  Festus,  in  pre- 
senting Paul  to  the  audience,  states  some  facts  that 
bring  the  whole  case    into   very    small    compass. 


248  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


First,  it  was  not  simply  a  few,  but  the  multitude  of 
the  Jews  that  desired  the  death  of  Paul  (v.  24). 
Secondly,  Paul  was  already  found  to  have  done 
nothing  worthy  of  death.  Thirdly,  as  candor 
would  not  suit  Festus  here,  he  says  Paul  has 
"himself"  appealed  to  Caesar,  omitting  the  fact 
that  official  injustice  compelled  the  appeal.  And 
fourthly,  we  are  here  present  now  to  find,  if  we 
can,  some  reason  for  sending  the  prisoner  to  Rome. 
Especially  is  the  Jewish  king  looked  to  for  aid  on 
this  last  point. 

Since  Agrippa  is  judge  in  this  case,  he  gives  Paul 
permission  to  speak.  Paul's  gesture  is  noted.  He 
stretched  forth  his  hand.  It  can  hardly  be  said 
with  Abbott  that  this  is  "a  significant  and  eloquent 
reminder  that  he,  against  whom  Festus  can  find  no 
definite  accusation,  is  a  prisoner."  All  this  has 
just  been  acknowledged  by  Festus,  and  Luke  need 
not  at  once  repeat  it.  Such  remarks  at  the  open- 
ing of  discourses  (Matt.  v.  2,  Mark.  ix.  35,  Acts 
ii.  14,  xiii.  16)  serve  to  draw  the  reader's  attention 
to  the  importance  of  what  is  about  to  be  said.  The 
speech  which  follows  may  be  analyzed  as  to  its 
contents  as    follows:  — 

1.  Exordium,  vs.  2,  3. 

2.  Statement  of  the  offense  charged,  vs.   4-7. 

3.  Paul's   experience   as  a    Pharisee,    vs.  8-12. 

4.  His  conversion,  vs.    13-15. 

5.  His  commission  from  Christ,  vs.  16-18. 

6.  For  obedience  to   this   commission  the  Jews 
sought  to  kill  him,  vs.    19-23. 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  249 

7.  Festus'  interruption,  vs.  24,  25. 

8.  Appeal  to  Agrippa,  vs.  26-29. 

The  speech  as  an  argument  to  justify  Paul  in  be- 
lieving and  preaching  the  resurrection  may  be  an- 
alyzed thus:  — 

1.  This  belief  is  no  crime,  for  Paul  has  always 
been  a  Pharisee,  whose  prime  article  of  faith  is  this 
same  hope,  vs.   4-6. 

2.  His  accusers  hold  this  very  article  and  so  are 
inconsistent  in  assailing  him,  v.  7. 

3.  Paul  did  not  of  himself  come  into  the  preach- 
ing of  this  belief,  as  his  former  opposition  to  it 
shows,  vs.    8-12. 

4.  But  Jesus'  revelation  on  the  Damascus  road 
moved  him  to  it,  vs.    13-15. 

5.  And  Jesus  commissioned  him  to  preach  it,  vs. 
16-18. 

6.  Obedience  to  this  heaven-given  commission  is 
the  whole  and  sole  cause  of  Jewish  opposition,  vs. 
19-22,  a. 

7.  Paul's  teaching  accords  with  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  vs.  22  b,  23. 

8.  The  interruption  by  Festus  leads  to  the  ap- 
peal and  the  conclusion,  vs.   24-29. 

The  analysis  may  be  exhibited  briefly  thus: — 


250 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


I.      The    charge 
inconsistent 


II.      The    resur- 
rection   was 
preached  only  ■< 
by  divine  ap- 
pointment. 


(a) 

00 

(c) 

(a) 

00 


Paul  was  a  strict  Pharisee, 

vs.  4,  5. 
Believed  the  promise  made 

to  the  fathers,  v.  6. 
His  opponents  believed  the 

same,  v.  7. 

Paul's  predilection  was 
against  it,  v.  8-12. 

Christ's  revelation  and 
commission  changed  his 
course,  vs.   13-18. 

He  followed  Christ's  com- 
mand, vs.  19-22  a. 


III. 


Scripture 
proofs. 


The  Christ  should  suffer. 
Should  rise  from   the  dead. 
Should    show    light    to    the 
Gentiles,  vs.  22,  b  23. 


But  analysis  here,  as  everywhere,  must  fail  ex- 
cept in  giving  the  mere  outline  of  the  thought. 
The  draft  of  the  house  may  give  an  idea  of  it,  but 
it  is  not  the  house.  Analysis  cannot  compass  the 
emphasis,  the  suggestions,  the  implications,  the 
suppressed  and  assumed  premises  of  the  speech. 
Exposition  can  do  more. 

It  is  because  of  the  implications  in  the  speech 
and  its  relation  to  Judaism  that  Paul  is  happy  to 
speak  before   one  who   is  "expert"   in  these  things. 

That  Paul  was  a  Pharisee  was  well  known  by  all 
the  Jews.  They  had  opportunity  to  know  him 
from  his  youth   and  young   manhood    spent  among 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  251 

them  in  Jerusalem.  Were  they  willing  they  could 
testify  to  his  Pharisaic  connection  during  that 
time.  To  be  a  Pharisee  was  to  hold  to  the  promise 
of  resurrection  made  by  God  to  the  fathers  (v.  6). 
In  this  it  is  implied  that  Paul's  sect  had  an  ancient 
basis  for  its  creed,  for  the  creed  was  scriptural. 
And  here  now,  by  a  happy  turn,  he  shows  that  his 
own  belief  is  wider  than  that  of  his  sect.  It  is  the 
earnest  belief  of  the  nation,  for  the  "twelve 
tribes,"  and  not  merely  Judah,  serve  God  day  and 
night  to  reach  the  national  hope.  Here  the  incon- 
sistency of  the  accusation  comes  in  with  the  sud- 
denness of  the  lightning's  flash,  for  what  he  was 
about  to  say  could  not  have  been  anticipated,  viz. : 
what  all  Jews  believe  they  hold  me  as  a  criminal 
for  believing.  "For  which  hope's  sake  I  am  accused 
by  Jews."  The  word  "the"  does  not  belong  to  the 
text,  and  dulls  its  point.  This  sudden  sharp  thrust 
is  followed  by  a  question  which  painfully  suggests 
its  own  answer: — "What,  is  it  thought  an  incredi- 
ble thing  with  you  if  God  raises  the  dead?"  Will 
Pharisees  deny  their  own  leading  doctrine?  The 
inference  is  plain.  They  were  not  what  they 
claimed  to  be.  Paul  was  a  consistent  Pharisee. 
It  was  not  he  who  needed  defense,  it  was  they. 
Several  interesting  things  are  implied  in  the  ad- 
dress so  far.  In  the  words  "twelve  tribes,"  it  is  seen 
that  the  whole  nation  was  represented  among  the 
Jews.  Paul  was  himself  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin! 
Anna  was  of  the  tribe  of  Asher  (Luke  ii.  36).      All 


253  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

the  Levites  were  certainly  known  (Luke  i.  5). 
At  least  one  family  could  prove  its  descent  from 
Judah  (Matt.  i.  1  -1 7).  The  tribes  had  long  since 
ceased  to  be  complete,  but  individuals  from  every 
one  existed,  all  of  whom  were  filled  with  the  na- 
tional hope,  and  yet  most  of  them  were  the  enemies 
of  Paul.  If  the  twelve  tribes  held  the  same  hope 
with  Paul,  he  virtually  says  that  Phariseeism  is  the 
prevailing  religion.  It  was.  Agrippa,  before  whom 
Paul  spoke,  was  well  aware  of  this.  The  Saddu- 
cees  might  cut  some  figure  in  Jerusalem  and  in  the 
council,  but  elsewhere  they  were  nothing,  either  in 
influence  or  numbers.  Their  wealth  and  learning 
was  their  power.  The  mass  of  the  people  believed 
in  the  coming  Messiah. 

There  are  some  differences  between  this  speech 
and  the  one  made  on  the  stairs  of  the  castle  in 
Jerusalem  The  contradictions  are  only  apparent 
and  vanish  before  a  little  scrutiny.  Here  before 
Agrippa  Paul  does  not  hesitate  to  call  the  disciples 
whom  he  persecuted  "saints,"  holy  persons  (v. 
10),  a  term  which  would  have  been  resented  had  it 
been  used  in  the  former  speech  before  the  mob. 
There  he  said  instead,  "men  and  women"  (xxii. 
4).  In  describing  the  scene  on  the  Damascus  road 
some  particulars  not  given  before  are  mentioned. 
The  light  was  "above  the  brightness  of  the  sun." 
They  "all"  fall  to  the  ground.  The  voice  spake 
to  him  "in  the  Hebrew  tongue."  It  said:  "It  is 
hard  for  thee  to  kick   against   the  pricks."     These 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  233 

particulars  would  go  to  show  before  Agrippa  that 
in  that  sublime  moment  Paul  was  calm  and  self- 
possessed.  He  noted  everything.  He  did  not 
fall  down  in  a  swoon.  All  fell  before  the  power 
of  the  light.  It  was  not  a  delusion,  not  a  mere 
vision.      It  was  a  sensible    reality. 

In  speaking  of  his  commission  (vs.  16-18)  he 
omits  all  mention  of  Ananias  and  refers  it  directly 
to  Christ.  He  seems  to  mass  together,  too,  both 
what  he  heard  at  Damascus,  and  what  was  subse- 
quently revealed  to  him  in  the  temple  (xxii.  17,  18). 
The  point  is  that  the  commission  was  divine.  And 
here  he  gives  utterance  to  a  profound  fact  not  men- 
tioned before  in  the  book,  but  one  which  Jesus 
made  known  in  his  teaching  (Matt.  xii.  26,  29,  30), 
that  the  world  of  mankind  is  in  the  power  of  Sa- 
tan. Paul  was  commissioned  to  turn  them  from 
this  power  and  its  darkness  (v.  18).  By  implica- 
tion this  explains  the  Jews'  inconsistent  course 
against  Paul.  They  were  under  the  pall  of  satanic 
moral  darkness. 

In  the  twentieth  verse  Paul  gives  one  item  in 
the  account  of  his  work  of  which  there  is  no  record 
elsewhere.  When  did  he  preach  "throughout  all 
the  coasts  of  Judea?"  His  ministry  "at  Jerusalem" 
had  been  very  brief  (ix  28-30,  with  Gal.  i.  18).  Such 
omissions  in  our  record  show  that  it  is  complete 
only  in  the  point  of  giving  a  history  of  the  devel- 
opment of  the  church.  Whatever  facts  do  not 
serve  to  show  this  development  are  not  admitted 
to  this  treatise. 


254  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Paul  makes  a  second  sharp  thrust  at  the  Jews  in 
the  twenty-first  verse.  "For  these  causes" — for 
obeying  the  commission  of  the  risen  Christ — "the 
Jews  caught  me  in  the  temple" — where  they  pray 
for  his  coming — "and  sought  to  kill  me." 

Again  Paul  shows  the  harmony,  not  to  say  unity, 
between  the  Jews'  Scriptures  and  his  own  teach- 
ing. He  said  "none  other  things  than  those  which 
the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say  should  come"  (v. 
22).  The  Old  Testament  teaches  the  essential  facts 
of  the  New.  The  salvation  of  the  first  generation  of 
Christians  had  no  other  documentary  foundation. 
Paul  believed  these  Scriptures,  he  expounded  and 
enforced  them.  If  the  Jews  claimed  to  love  them 
and  to  walk  by  them  and  then  did  not  agree  with 
Paul  so  much  the  worse  for  them.  Again  it  ap- 
pears that  it  was  not  he  but  they  who  were  dis- 
loyal to  Moses  and  the  prophets. 

Festus  knows  nothing  about  these  Scriptures. 
He  is  getting  weary.  He  interrupts  Paul  and  de- 
clares him  mad.  Whatever  is  beyond  the  power 
of  ignorance  to  explain  is,  to  that  ignorance  which 
thinks  it  knows  all,  either  folly  or  madness.  To 
this  rude  characterization  Paul  replies  most  courte- 
ously, and  then  appeals  to  the  man  who  does  know. 
Agrippa,  as  a  nominal  or  ceremonial  Jew,  believed 
the  prophets  to  be  divine  messengers.  But  he  too 
interrupts  Paul.  If  Festus  is  coarsely  blunt,  the 
king  is  politely  ironical.  For  whatever  the  inter- 
pretation of  his   words  may   be,  the   King   James' 


PORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  255 

version  of  them  does  not  gain  the  approval  of 
scholars  in  general.  Literally  the  words  read:  — 
"In  a  little  thou  persuadest  me  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian." But  is  it  little  in  time  or  in  degree?  And 
since  the  word  Christian  was  not  then  in  good  re- 
pute, was  it  not  contemptuous  in  his  mouth? 

Paul  concludes  with  a  most  beautiful  sentiment, 
that  discloses  the  fervor  and  the  faith  of  his  heart. 
It  shows,  too,  his  estimate  of  things.  Instead  of 
their  crowns  and  robes  and  offices,  he  wishes  they 
had  his  standing  with  God,  humble  though  it 
seemed.  Instead  of  their  pleasures  and  joys  he 
wishes  they  had  his.  Instead  of  their  showy 
worldly  life  with  its  transitory  honor,  he  wishes 
they  had  his  lowly  life,  the  chains  excepted. 

As  we  look  back  now  to  the  time  when  Paul  was 
arrested  until  the  present  moment  Luke  has  made 
two  things  very  clear.  He  has  massed  his  material 
in  order  to  bring  them  to  view.  First,  as  Paul  tri- 
umphed at  Athens  over  the  spurious  learning  of  its 
philosophers,  so  at  Jerusalem  and  Csesarea  he 
triumphs  over  the  spurious  creed  of  the  Jews.  If 
there  was  no  miracle  to  rescue  him  in  the  last  two 
years,  like  that  which  had  delivered  him  from 
Philippi's  jail,  or  like  that  which  had  rescued  Peter, 
there  was  what  was  greater,  not  only  most  con- 
vincing speech  on  the  part  of  Paul,  but  also  the 
order  of  the  great  Roman  empire.  If  the  Jews 
were  murderous  and  the  Roman  officials  false, 
God  was  over  all  for   the  furtherance   of  his  Word 


256  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

in  preserving  its  great  preacher,  delivering  him 
from  the  people  and  the  Gentiles  to  whom  he  was 
now  sent  (v.  17).  The  God  who  promised  him  that 
he  should  see  Rome  brought  it  about,  just  as  when 
in  Corinth  he  assured  him  that  no  man  should  set 
on  him  to  hurt  him  (xviii.  10)  it  came  out  so. 
The  Jews  then  did  their  best  to  defeat  the  Lord's 
promise,  but  the  Roman  Gallio  defeated  them. 

And  lastly,  as  Paul  is  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
to  Rome,  that  which  has  been  clear  all  along  is 
once  more  set  in  the  light.  He  has  spoken  freely, 
boldly,  comprehensively,  before  Agrippa  and  the 
rest.  The  latter  go  aside  and  after  consultation 
reach  this  verdict:  "This  man  doeth  nothing 
worthy  of  death."  And  the  king  endorses  it:  "This 
man  might  have  been  set  at  liberty  if  he  had  not 
appealed  to  Caesar."  He  has  had  four  formal 
trials,  one  in  Jerusalem  and  three  in  Caesarea,  in 
every  one  of  which  he  came  forth  without  convic- 
tion. He  starts  toward  Rome  an  innocent  man, 
and  the  Jews  are  left  to  the  doom  which  their 
murderous  hate  of  the  gospel  insured.  The  en- 
mity to  Paul  is  the  last  mention  of  them  on  the 
pages  of  inspiration.  The  last  decade  of  their  na- 
tional existence  is  already  entered. 

The  speech  before  Agrippa  was  sought  (xxv.  26) 
that  Festus  might  have  something  to  write  to 
Caesar  about  Paul.  It  must  have  greatly  disap- 
pointed the  governor.  But  Luke  wholly  omits  all 
mention  of  this  feature  of  the    last  defense,  for  he 


FORCED  TO  APPEAL  TO  ROME  257 

is  not  concerned  with  the   troubles  of  Festus,  but 
with  the  triumph  of  Paul. 


258  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


SECTION  XIX 

THE  GOSPEL  ON  THE  WAY  TO  ROME 

Acts  xxvii — xxviii.  10 

If  this  section  had  been  compressed  to  a  very 
few  verses,  followed  by  what  remains  of  the  book, 
it  would  have  been  felt  that  Luke's  treatise  had  a 
logical  and  natural  ending.  But  instead  the  end 
is  not  reached  until  this  most  graphic,  most  engag- 
ing section  intervenes.  It  is  absorbing  in  interest, 
and  is  not  surpassed  by  anything  in  literature  in 
its  power  to  hold  the  attention  and  enlist  the  feel- 
ings. It  is  a  story  of  the  sea  marked  with  a  wealth 
of  detail  and  full  of  exciting  situations.  What 
does  all  this  signify?  To  say  that  Luke  was  on 
this  voyage,  kept  a  diary  and  transferred  to  these 
pages  the  results  of  his  observations,  is  most  likely 
true.  But  why  did  he  transfer  them?  To  make 
his  story  interesting?  Then  we  must  say,  as  on 
an  earlier  page,  he  has  suddenly  changed  from  the 
philosophic  historian  to  the  low  level  of  the  nov- 
elist. He  is  no  longer  tracing  what  "Jesus  began 
to  do  and  to  teach,"  but  is  making  a  book.  And 
the  account,  on  that  supposition,  is  no  longer  spir- 
itual, but  meteorological.  It  is  about  a  storm  at 
sea  and  not  about  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

If  this  section  on  its  surface  is  one  of   the   most 


THE  GOSPEL  ON  THE  WAY  TO  ROME  &5d 

interesting  and  exciting  in  the  book  it  is  because 
the  dress  is  worthy  of  its  character.  The  climax 
of  the  history  is  reached  in  this,  the  next  to  the  last 
paragraph  of  the  book.  It  is  the  history  of  that 
supreme  moment  in  God's  dealing  with  men  when 
his  mercy  forsook  his  ancient  people  and  went  to 
the  world.  To  be  sure  the  truth  had  been  preached 
for  years  among  the  heathen  and  great  centers  had 
been  established.  But  all  this,  after  all,  was  not 
comprehensive.  It  still  depended  on  Jerusalem. 
That  dependence  had  ceased.  The  moment  the 
ship  which  bore  Paul  left  the  pier  in  Caesarea, 
that  moment  a  new  world  begun.  The  old  one 
left  behind  will  now  soon  be  laid  waste  for  "many 
generations."  (Isa.  lxi.  4).  If  the  gospel  began  at 
Jerusalem  it  was  to  continue  from  Rome.  Luke 
and  Paul  could  not  help  feeling  the  significance  of 
this  hour.  As  they  sailed  up  the  coast  they  looked 
upon  the  shores  of  the  beloved  but  God-forsaken 
land  for  the  last  time.  But  they  also  looked  for- 
ward to  that  new  world  to  which  they  were  going, 
where  all  was  problematical  except  as  they  knew 
that  God  was  with  them.  This  accounts  for  the 
interest  with  which  Luke  writes.  This  explains  his 
minute  particularity. 

But  this  section  is  virtually  the  close  of  the  book. 
He  does  not  propose  to  write  how  the  gospel 
spreads  in  that  new  realm  to  which  it  was  going. 
Indeed  he  does  not  know.  But  in  the  voyage  to 
Rome  and  its  various  incidents  Luke  is  taught  and 


260  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Paul  is  taught  and  we  are  taught  how  that  diffu- 
sion will  occur.  The  story  is  a  draft  of  the  temple 
which  is  going  to  be  reared.  It  will  not  give 
offense  then  if  it  is  treated  somewhat  allegorically. 

There  is  no  little  warrant  for  considering  this 
Scripture  in  this  way.  When  God  would  have 
Peter  know  his  will  about  the  social  relations  of 
Jew  and  Gentile  and  that  the  latter  were  now  to 
be  admitted  to  the  kingdom,  he  showed  him  a 
strange  picture — a  sheet  let  down  from  heaven 
wherein  were  all  manner  of  beasts.  And  in  sight 
of  that  picture  he  taught  him  by  a  voice — "What 
God  hath  cleansed  that  call  not  thou  common." 
Would  it  be  strange  if  God  should  teach  Luke  and 
Paul  by  a  natural  occurrence  what  Peter  learned 
in  a  vision?  This  section  is  a  vivid  picture.  May 
the  divine  spirit  not  be  instructing  us  here  as  the 
chief  of  the  apostles  was  instructed  on  the  house- 
top in  Joppa?  God  spoke  there.  And  in  the  sketch 
before  us  the  divine  voice  breaks  through  again, 
and  again  and  gives  us  guidance. 

Abraham  sent  his  servant  back  to  Mesopotamia 
to  find  a  wife  for  Isaac.  The  mission  was  a  most 
important  one.  On  the  right  accomplishment  of 
it,  hung  the  promise  of  God,  the  promise  of  mercy 
to  all  nations.  The  man  burdened  with  such  an 
enterprise  was  sure  to  be  thoughtful.  He  went 
forward  in  the  dark.  At  last  he  reached  the  well 
where  his  commission  was  to  succeed  or  fail.  And 
now,  at  just  this  point,  the  story  (Gen.  xxiv)  bris- 


THE  GOSPEL  ON  THE  WAY  TO  ROME  261 

ties  with  details.  Abraham's  servant  has  his  eyes 
open  for  everything.  For  it  is  among  these  other- 
wise insignificant  incidents  that  he  is  to  learn  the 
Lord's  will  about  a  wife  for  his  master's  son.  And 
so  we  read  (v.  21):  "And  the  man,  wondering  at  her, 
held  his  peace  to  wit  whether  the  Lord  had  made 
his  journey  prosperous  or  not."  He  was  studying 
the  situation  into  which  he  had  come  to  learn  its 
significance.  So  did  Luke  and  Paul.  Their  voy- 
age and  its  incidents  became  to  them  a  picture  of 
things  to  come  in  the  Gentile  world. 

Another  justification  for  looking  at  our  section  as 
in  some  measure  a  parable,  is  found  in  the  closing 
chapter  of  John's  gospel.  And  another  justification 
is  given,  for  if  we  can  fix  on  the  method  of  inter- 
preting what  is  before  us  the  interpretation  will 
take  care  of  itself.  John's  gospel  seems  to  end 
with  the  twentieth  chapter.  But  another  chapter 
is  added,  "as  if  dictated  by  some  after-thought," 
says  T.  D.  Bernard.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
supplementary  chapter?  The  account  of  the 
death  and  resurrection  is  complete  with  the  close 
of  the  preceding  one.  But  is  there  to  be  nothing 
about  that  great,  untried  work  on  which  the  dis- 
ciples are  about  to  enter?  Yes,  they  must  have  a 
lesson  on  that.  They  are  fishing.  That  is  well. 
They  had  been  fishing  once  before  when  Jesus  di- 
rected them  and  also  taught  them  that  henceforth 
they  should  catch  men  (Luke.  v).  That  lesson 
is   repeated   by    John   with   varied    circumstances. 


262  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


Like  the  section  before  us  the  story  is  full  of  de- 
tails. We  are  told  who  and  how  many  composed 
the  company,  and  how  they  came  to  "go  a  fish- 
ing." It  is  noted  that  Jesus  "stood"  on  the  shore. 
The  distance  of  the  ship  from  the  land  is  given. 
The  ordinary  act  of  Peter's  pulling  on  his  coat  be- 
fore he  swam  ashore  is  not  overlooked.  And  it  was 
a  "fisher's"  coat.  The  exact  number  of  the  fish  is 
given.  They  come  to  land  in  the  little  ship.  They 
find  not  simply  a  fire,  but  its  condition  is  noted — 
a  fire  of  "coals."  These  details,  and  there  are 
more  of  them,  show  the  importance  of  the  occa- 
sion, the  impression  which  it  made.  They  are 
wanting  in  the  former  similar  miracle.  Now  from 
this  concluding  story  in  John's  gospel  the  disciples 
would  learn  that  Jesus  would  direct  them  in  catch- 
ing men  and  give  them  divine  aid,  but  that  he 
would  guide  them  from  the  shores  of  the  other 
world.  For  he  was  not  now  with  them  in  the  ship 
as  in  that  earlier  miracle.  Since  he  dined  with 
them  they  might  expect  his  fellowship.  And  from 
what  follows  in  the  chapter  it  is  learned  that  their 
ruling  motive  was  to  be  love  for  him  and  his  sheep. 
And  the  chapter  closes  with  a  picture  in  which 
Jesus,  the  risen  Lord,  is  moving  on,  going  some- 
where, whither  John  does  not  say,  and  his  disciples 
are  following. 

The  section  before  us  is  similar.  It  speaks  of  the 
future.  Its  many  particulars  show  its  importance. 
It  may  be  noticed  first  that  it  is  a  sea  story.     The 


THE  GOSPEL  ON  THE  W 'AY  TO  ROME  203 

sailing  is  particularly  described.  Before  Paul  gets 
to  Rome  he  is  on  three  different  ships.  Nautical 
terms  and  phrases  abound.  The  ocean's  waves, 
the  wind's  power,  the  roar  of  the  breakers,  sound 
in  our  ears.  Has  this  particular  feature  of  the  sec- 
tion any  significance?  It  is  in  the  book  of  the  re- 
jection of  Jesus,  the  gospel  according  to  Matthew, 
in  the  very  opening  of  it,  that  we  read  the  quotation 
from  Esaias:  "The  land  of  Zabulon  and  the  land 
of  Nephthalim  by  the  way  of  the  sea.  .  .  .  Gal- 
ilee of  the  Gentiles.  The  people  which  sat  in 
darkness  saw  great  light."  The  way  of  the  sea 
was  the  way  in  which  the  light  came  to  Galilee  of 
the  Gentiles.  It  was  a  prophecy  reaching  much 
wider.  The  Jews  were  not  sailors.  The  Gentiles  in- 
habited the  sea  shores  and  the  isles.  Luke  notices 
every  one  they  touch.  The  light  is  going  again  "by 
the  way  of  the  sea."  It  has  set  out  to  kindle  a 
beacon  flame  on  every  cape  and  headland,  on  every 
isle  and  continent.  And  that  our  story  confines 
us  so  strictly  to  the  sea  is  a  token  of  all  this.  The 
gospel  has  at  last  reached  that  highway  that  leads 
out  to  all  the  world  in  all  centuries.  Christ  is 
Lord  of  the  sea.  The  story  of  his  walking  upon  the 
water  comes  to  mind  here.  It  must  have  come  to 
the  mind  of  Paul  and  Luke.  They  would  remem- 
ber its  context  (Mark  vi.  30).  We  must  recall  it, 
or  the  act  becomes  a  mere  exhibition  of  almighti- 
ness.  The  disciples  had  returned  from  a  preaching 
tour  throughout   Galilee.     John    the    Baptist  had 


264  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

been  beheaded.  Jesus  now'  leaves  Herod's  juris- 
diction for  the  day,  goes  beyond  the  Jordan  to 
Bethsaida  and  feeds  the  five  thousand.  The  sig- 
nificance of  this  miracle  he  makes  known  the  next 
day  in  the  synagogue  at  Capernaum.  He  is  the 
bread  of  life.  After  the  multitude  is  fed  he  "com- 
pels" the  disciples  to  get  into  a  ship  and  go  before 
him.  During  the  night  he  comes  to  them  walking 
on  the  water.  Must  it  not  have  dawned  on  them 
by  and  by  that  as  he  had  aided  them  in  supplying 
the  wants  of  the  thousands  on  land  so  he  would  be 
with  them  by  and  by  on  the  sea?  They  had  re- 
turned from  preaching,  from  ministering  the  bread 
of  life,  which  was  himself.  They  find  on  their  re- 
turn the  inimical  state  of  things  created  by  Herod. 
And  Jesus  now,  still  dealing  with  them  as  mis- 
sionaries, drives  them  to  the  sea  and  shows  them 
by  his  coming  to  them  in  the  storm  how  he  will  be 
with  them  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  miracle 
of  walking  on  the  water  was  more  than  an  act  of 
power  and  mercy.  It  was  replete  with  prophecy. 
It  is  re-enacted  in  the  section  before  us.  Paul  has 
been  before  the  last  of  the  Herods.  He  is  forced 
to  the  sea.  The  Lord  will  be  with  him  on  the 
waters  to  teach  him  about  the  things  to  come  in 
the  Roman  world. 

It  must  be  noticed  how  Luke  came  to  mention 
the  islands,  and  in  one  case  the  mainland.  In 
every  case  protection  and  shelter  from  the  adverse 
wind  was  given  by  them.     The  sea  bore  them,  the 


THE  GOSPEL  ON  THE  W 'AY  TO  ROME  265 

islands  shielded  them,  but  the  wind  was  always 
against  them,  except  in  one  case,  when  it  deceived 
them  (v.  13).  It  will  not  be  forgotten  that  a  wind 
once  threatened  the  life  of  him  who  gave  the  gos- 
pel (Mark  iv.  38).  In  the  significant  and  dis- 
criminating language  of  Mark,  and  Luke's  gospel 
is  similar,  Jesus  arose  and  "rebuked"  the  wind, 
but  "said  to  the  sea,  Be  still."  There  was  condem- 
nation of  the  storm,  but  only  a  command  for  the 
waves.  Are  we  not  reminded  by  this  reproof  of 
him  who  is  elsewhere  called  the  "Prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air"  (Eph.  ii.  2)  ?  And  can  anything 
be  rebuked  in  which  moral  responsibility  is  not  in 
some  way  implied?  If  Matthew  makes  Jesus  re- 
buke both  wind  and  sea  it  is  only  because  that 
evangelist's  purpose  in  writing  his  account  is  not 
served  by  careful  discrimination.  Now,  our  sec- 
tion shows  how  the  islands  secured  the  voyagers 
against  the  winds.  They  sailed  under  the  lee  of 
Cyprus  to  escape  the  northwest  blast  (v.  4).  Next 
they  sailed  over  the  sea  off  (not  "of")  Cilicia  and 
Pamphylia  for  the  same  purpose,  and  landed  safely 
at  Myra  (v.  5).  As  they  pursued  their  journey 
they  did  not  reach  Cnidus,  but  only  "came  over 
against"  it,  and  now  took  refuge  again  from  the 
wind  under  the  lee  of  Crete  (v.  7),  With  difficulty 
they  pass  the  headland  of  Salmone,  but  having 
succeeded  in  this  they  reached  another  city,  Lasea. 
In  spite  of  wind  the  gospel  gets  to  one  populous 
port   after  another.      In  the   Fair   Havens   Paul, 


266  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

already  three  times  shipwrecked  (II  Cor.  xi.  25), 
and  not  unacquainted  with  the  habits  of  the  sea, 
gives  his  advice  (v.  9).  But  he  is  not  heeded,  for 
the  south  wind  deceives  them  and  the  great  storm, 
with  its  great  heathen  name  Euroclydon  or  Eura- 
quila,  sets  in.  For  the  wind  suddenly  changed  and 
came  violently  over  Crete  from  the  northeast. 
But  again  they  find  help  from  an  island.  Under 
Clauda  they  take  aboard  the  boat  which  had  been 
towed  at  the  stern,  and  they  strengthen  the  ship 
by  passing  cables  around  her  waist,  or  perhaps 
around  her  lengthwise  from  bow  to  stern.  And 
finally  the  island  of  Melita  receives  the  whole  com- 
pany when  the  ship  has  gone  to  pieces. 

The  islands  wait  for  God's  law.  They  will  re- 
ceive it  and  shelter  it,  and  the  blast  of  spiritual 
opposition  emanating  from  Satan  cannot  hinder  it. 

The  ship  with  its  company  on  board,  out  on  the 
stormy  sea,  was  a  striking  picture  of  the  Roman 
empire.  That  great  nation  had  a  foundation  as 
uncertain  as  the  rolling  waves  underneath  this  ves- 
sel. If  storms  came  it  was  sure  to  go  to  pieces. 
The  ship  had  on  board  two  of  the  great  elements 
of  the  nation,  the  soldier  and  the  man  of  commerce. 
And  it  had  the  gospel  in  its  greatest  representa- 
tive. Luke  never  once  mentions  Paul's  chains. 
But  one  thing  he  makes  very  prominent — how 
Paul's  influence  grew  from  first  to  last  on  that  ves- 
sel so  that  whatever  was  saved  from  the  storm  and 
wreck   was   due   to   him.       He   starts   with   favor. 


THE  GOSPEL  Oti  THE  IVAY  TO  ROME  267 

Aristarchus  (v.  2)  and  Luke,  Paul's  friends,  are 
permitted  to  go  with  him.  At  Sidon  the  apostle 
is  allowed  to  refresh  himself  (v.  3).  His  advice 
in  the  Fair  Havens  (vs.  9-12)  is  not  acceptable,  to 
be  sure,  but,  prisoner  though  he  was,  he  must  have 
already  gained  a  tangible  standing  in  the  ship's 
community  or  how  could  he  dare  to  advise  at  all? 
When  the  storm  is  at  its  height  Paul  stands  forth 
again  (vs.  2 1-26),  this  time  not  to  advise,  but  first  of 
all  to  rebuke — "Sirs,  ye  should  have  hearkened  unto 
me."  They  may  have  thought  when  they  neglect- 
ed his  admonition  at  Fair  Havens,  "What  does  this 
priest  of  religion  know  about  matters  of  business?" 
And  so  the  "more  part,"  along  with  Julius,  believed 
the  master  and  the  owner  of  the  ship,  all  being  in 
ignorance  that  all  business  has  a  moral  side  which 
the  man  of  God  may  understand  better  than  he 
who  conducts  that  business.  Both  traffic  and  arms 
must  fail  when  they  contravene  the  will  of  God. 
But  Paul  does  more  than  rebuke.  He  cheers. 
He  inspires  hope.  He  promises  safety,  and  he 
confesses  the  God  whom  he  serves.  It  is  very  sig- 
nificant that  where  all  their  gods  were  failing  them 
in  the  storm,  the  God  of  the  Jew  was  about  to 
bring  deliverance  to  the  whole  company.  The  time 
is  coming  when  this  will  be  repeated  on  a  national 
scale.  The  things  to  come  are  here  in  embryo. 
But  Paul  goes  still  higher.  He  virtually  commands 
(vs.  30-32)  and  the  centurion  and  the  soldiers  ex- 
ecute his  command.      From  this  on  he  is  the  lead- 


268  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

ing  spirit.  For  a  fortnight  they  have  had  no  reg-^ 
ular  meal.  A  cold  plunge  in  the  sea  is  ahead  of 
them.  Weakened  men  will  not  be  equal  to  the 
struggle  for  life  in  the  raging  surf.  Paul  orders  a 
meal,  takes  the  head  of  the  table  himself,  institutes 
Christian  worship,  in  asking  a  blessing,  and  begins 
to  eat,  and  all  now  eat  with  him.  At  just  this 
point  (v.  37)  Luke  mentions  the  number  of  the 
souls  aboard  the  ship,  a  counted  number  given  to 
Paul  (v.  24)  and  not  one  lost.  When  the  crisis 
comes  Julius  risks  his  own  life  before  the  stern 
Roman  law  (vs.  42,  43)  in  order  to  save  Paul's. 
For  had  the  prisoners  escaped  the  soldiers  must 
have  answered  for  them  with  their  heads.  The 
climax  in  Paul's  influence  appears  when  the  island 
is  reached.  Faith  in  him  is  so  great  that  now 
again,  after  more  than  two  years,  miracles  appear, 
and  the  rich  grace  of  God  can  manifest  itself  in  the 
person  of  his  servant.  It  is  a  token  of  the  fall  of 
Israel  that  from  the  restoration  of  Eutychus  to  life 
(xx.)  until  this  hour,  or  from  the  moment  that 
Paul  turned  his  face,  more  than  two  years  before, 
toward  Jerusalem  until  now  when  he  is  at  the 
gates  of  Rome,  the  divine  energy  could  not  show 
itself.      It  is  given  again  on  Roman  soil. 

If  God  gave  his  servant  such  an  influence  in  the 
little  Roman  world  compressed  in  the  ship,  it  be- 
comes evident  what  is  before  the  gospel  in  the 
empire  itself.  At  first  it  must  be  heard  yet  may  not 
be  heeded,  but   at  last  it  will   prevail,  and  nothing 


THE  GOSPEL  ON  WE  IV^Y  TO  ROME  *ti 

will  be  conserved  except  what  is  conserved  by  it. 
What  was  given  to  Paul  in  the'  ship  was  saved. 
All  the  rest  went  to  the  bottom. 

The  spirit  of  Paul  throughout  the  whole  terrible 
voyage  is  made  clear  by  Luke.  He  was  no  idler. 
He  did  not  sit  apart  in  solitude  awaiting  his  work 
when  he  should  reach  Rome.  He  is  one  with  the 
whole  ship's  company  from  the  start.  He  advises 
for  the  common  good  of  all.  Of  course  he  prayed 
for  all.  He  cheered  and  encouraged.  When  they 
finally  reached  land  he  gathered  sticks  with  the 
rest.  It  was  before  this  that  he  had  been  caught 
up  to  the  third  heaven  (II  Cor.  xii.  2),  but  he  did 
not  stay  there.  In  this  voyage  he  was  a  great, 
brave,  sweet  man  among  his  fellow  men.  We  may 
be  sure  he  will  be  such  when  he  comes  to  plant.the 
gospel  in  Caesar's  household. 

This  labor  and  spirit  on  his  part  during  the  two 
terrible  weeks  of  storm  bear  instructively  on  an- 
other point  in  the  story.  Two  years  before,  while 
Paul  was  in  Jerusalem,  God  said  to  him  that  he 
must  bear  witness  at  Rome  (xxiii.  11).  After  the 
storm  had  raged  for  days,  this  promise  was  renewed 
to  Paul  (xxvii.  24)  and  in  addition  to  it  he  got  the 
promise  of  the  lives  of  all  who  sailed  with  him. 
Paul  declared  that  he  trusted  this  promise.  "I  be- 
lieve God  that  it  shall  be  even  as  he  told  me" 
(v.  25).  Why  does  he  not  sit  down  then,  and  let 
God  bring  about  what  he  has  ordained,  for  how  can 
God's  word  be  broken?  Why,  on  the  contrary,  does 


270  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

Paul  begin  from  the  hour  that  he  got  this  assurance 
to  labor  earnestly  to  realize  it?  How,  after  he  has 
the  divine  promise  that  every  soul  aboard  shall 
reach  land  alive,  how,  after  this,  can  he  venture  to 
say,  "Except  these  abide  in  the  ship  ye  cannot  be 
saved?"  (v.  31).  For  if  the  sailors  desert,  who 
is  to  guide  the  ship,  to  strand  her  safely  on  the 
beach?  Ah,  Paul  did  not  know  the  frightful  per- 
versions that  in  after  ages  were  to  caricature  his 
own  blessed  doctrine  (Rom.  ix.  11-24).  "A  right 
and  perfect  reliance  on  God,  in  so  far  from  exclud- 
ing human  acting  and  working,  that  reliance  is  the 
most  original  and  the  most  powerful  spring  of  all 
human  movement  and  action;  just  as  on  the  other 
hand  the  full  measure  of  all  human  self-action  has 
complete  reliance  upon  God  for  its  necessary 
foundation."  As  Paul  labored  on  the  ship,  in  har- 
mony with  what  God's  promise  made  certain,  so  it 
is  evident  he  will  labor  in  Rome. 

The  story  of  the  sea  voyage  reaches  its  conclu- 
sion on  the  land,  just  as  the  whole  journey,  when 
finished,  will  bring  us  to  the  capital  of  heathendom. 
Have  we  not  again  the  Roman  world  in  miniature 
in  the  island?  Four  things  are  made  conspicuous 
in  the  three  months'stay  on  Melita:  the  hospitality, 
the  serpent  that  fastened  on  Paul's  hand,  the  heal- 
ing, and  the  beautiful  charity  at  the  close  when 
they  sent  away  Paul  and  his  two  Christian  com- 
panions with  "many  honors." 

Paul  and  all  the   rest  were   kindly  received.      It 


THE  GOSPEL  ON  THE  WAY  TO  ROME  271 

was  the  late  autumn  of  the  year  60  A.  D.  The  na- 
tives flock  down  to  the  beach  where  the  ship  went 
to  pieces.  They  note  the  sad  plight  of  all  as  they 
escape  from  the  surf.  A  cold  rain  is  falling  to  add 
to  the  general  discomfort.  And  so  the  barbarians 
make  a  fire.  It  must  have  cost  some  effort  where 
everything  was  water-soaked.  But  not  only  do 
the  people  show  kindness  but  the  "chief  man"  is 
hospitable  too.  For  three  days  his  house  furnished 
shelter  and  rest.  Surely  Paul  has  a  token  of  the 
spirit  in  which  the  ministers  of  the  Word  are  to  be 
received  in  the  new  realm  to  which  the  gospel  has 
come. 

But  the  natives  have  just  begun  to  show  the  gen- 
erosity of  their  disposition  when  the  event  occurred 
that  impressed  their  simple  hearts  powerfully. 
Paul,  in  gathering  up  a  pile  of  branches,  has  without 
knowing  it  brought  a  torpid  viper  with  them  and 
cast  all  on  the  fire,  which  was  apparently  not  very 
hot  yet.  How  natural  after  this  act  that  he  should 
hold  his  cold,  wet  hands  near  the  kindling  mass  to 
get  a  little  comfort.  The  maddened  reptile  darts 
out  and  seizes  the  hand  so  close  to  him.  The  inci- 
dent does  not  escape  the  notice  and  the  wonder  of 
the  barbarians.  The  coolness  of  Paul  and  his 
quietness  indicate  that  he  saw  much  more  in  this 
than  they  possibly  could.  Since  Dean  Burgon's 
masterly  vindication  of  the  canonicity  of  the  last 
twelve  verses  in  Mark's  gospel,  its  eighteenth  verse, 
"They  shall  take  up  serpents,"  may  be  trusted.      It 


272  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

is  only  as  the  messengers  of  the  gospel  have  faith 
to  carry  it  to  its  furthest  bounds  that  they  receive 
its  most  striking  proofs  of  genuineness.  Paul  is 
virtually  in  Rome  and  here  he  realizes  the  truthful- 
ness of  this  promise  made  by  Christ.  The  ser- 
pent's venom  does  not  hurt  him.  But  does  Luke 
record  this  story  only  because  it  is  miraculous? 
Does  not  Paul's  calmness  suggest  that  he  saw  a 
greater  significance  here?  It  is  the  beginning  of 
the  gospel  in  its  intent  to  embrace  the  world.  We 
have  seen  in  earlier  pages  of  this  book  how  each 
initial  step  was  attended  by  some  exhibition  of  Sa- 
tan's opposition.  In  Samaria  was  Simon  the  ma- 
gician. At  Cyprus  there  was  Elymas,  who  was  a 
child  of  the  devil.  At  Philippi  was  the  maiden 
with  the  spirit  of  Apollo.  As  Paul  looked  at  the 
serpent  hanging  upon  his  hand,  he  could  have  no 
fear  of  fatal  effects,  for  had  he  not  the  repeated 
promise  that  he  should  see  Rome?  And  must  he 
not  inquire,  then,  in  his  own  thought,  as  to  the 
meaning  of  this  startling  incident?  And  would  it 
not  be  most  reasonable,  while  knowing,  as  he  did, 
whom  the  serpent  symbolized,  to  think  of  him — 
of  "him  who  had  the  power  of  death"  (Heb.  ii.  14) 
but  could  no  longer  exercise  it  successfully  against 
the  power  of  the  gospel?  Paul  might  be  certain 
that  the  truth,  in  permeating  the  Roman  world, 
would  rouse  an  opposition  now  latent,  but  an  op- 
position which  was  sure  to  be  overcome. 

Luke  makes  the  barbarians  prominent  in  this 


THE  GOSPEL  ON  THE  W AY  TO  ROME  273 


part  of  the  story.  Whatever  may  be  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  accident  which  befell  Paul  their  reflec- 
tions, now  on  one  side  and  now  on  the  other,  show 
the  terror  with  which  they  viewed  it.  They  knew 
the  snake  was  venomous.  They  knew  it  had  bit- 
ten Paul.  There  could  be  no  mistake  here,  and 
their  conclusions,  though  wrong  on  both  sides,  attest 
that  we  have  here  an  undoubted  miracle. 

Other  miracles  follow.  They  are  of  a  more 
pleasing  character.  It  was  a  scene  of  terror  when 
Jesus  subdued  the  demon  in  the  synagogue  of  Ca- 
pernaum (Mark  i.  23-26J.  It  was  one  of  peace  and 
beauty  when  later  in  the  day  he  subdued  the  fever 
in  Peter's  household,  and  afterward  in  the  twilight 
of  the  same  day  laid  his  hands  on  others  that  were 
sick.  So  here.  The  horrible  serpent  is  cast  into 
the  fire,  and  now  Paul  enters  the  household.  The 
father  of  Publius  is  dangerously  ill.  He  too  has  a 
fever,  and  Paul  lays  his  hands  on  him  after  prayer, 
the  hand  that  just  now  overcame  the  serpent,  and 
he  is  healed.  Others  experience  a  similar  benefit. 
Let  the  Roman  world  rejoice.  The  balm  has  come 
that  is  to  undo  the  ills  that  sin  has  wrought.  It 
would  be  strange  if  during  the  three  months'  stay 
on  the  island  Paul  had  not  preached  the  gospel. 
There  is  no  mention  of  this,  however  Luke  is  giving 
the  outline  of  good  things  to  come,  and  he  need  not 
mention  that  which  we  know  to  be  the  cause  of 
all. 

In  the  end  a  beautiful  benevolence  shows  its  face. 


274  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

The  presence  of  Paul  and  his  two  companions 
made  the  little  island  blossom  with  charity.  Of 
course  the  missionaries  were  stripped  of  every- 
thing in  the  wreck.  Their  loss  is  made  good,  and 
more  than  good  (v.  10).  In  the  end  the  ministry 
which  has  suffered  much  to  carry  the  gospel  into 
the  world,  will  receive  a  rich  reward  in  reaping  the 
fruit  of  the  love  which  has  been  sown  (Mark 
x.  30).  What  was  done  in  this  island  will  be  done 
in  all  islands  in  all  time.  Melita  is  so  far  a  micro- 
cosm. 


THE  GOSPEL  REACHES  ITS  INTENDED  LIMIT      275 


SECTION  XX 

THE  GOSPEL  REACHES  ITS  INTENDED  LIMIT 

Acts  xxv Hi.  ii -J J 

Jesus  assured  the  apostles  at  the  beginning  that 
they  should  be  his  witnesses  from  Jerusalem, 
through  Judea  and  Samaria,  "unto  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth"  (i.  8).  The  latter  boundary  is 
now  reached.  For  it  is  while  Paul  is  in  Rome  that 
he  can  say  of  the  gospel  that  it  "was  preached  in 
all  creation  under  heaven"  (Col.  i.  23,  Rev.  Ver). 
The  commission  was  fulfilled  for  that  generation 
when  Rome  was  reached.  And  therefore  this  sec- 
tion closes  the  book. 

The  end  appears  to  come  abruptly.  It  leaves 
unanswered  several  questions  on  which  we  were  led 
to  expect  light.  What  was  the  outcome  of  Paul's 
appeal  to  Cassar?  There  is  no  answer.  What 
was  his  relation  to  the  magnificent  Roman  church 
of  whose  faith  he  wrote  three  years  before  that  it 
was  "spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world" 
(Rom.  i.  8)  ?  The  church  is  not  mentioned.  What 
were  Paul's  triumphs  in  that  Rome  which  he  had 
struggled  so  long  to  see?  Did  he  gain  that  "fruit" 
(Rom.  i.  13)  for  which  he  had  come?  We  are 
merely  told  that  he  reached  Rome  and  had  an  unin- 
terrupted ministry.     What  is  to  be   the   future  of 


27(3  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

these  Jews  who  have  rejected  the  gospel  so  vio- 
lently and  rejected  it  finally  here  in  Rome?  The 
impression  left  is  that  they  have  rejected  it  for- 
ever. One  must  say  this  with  the  utmost  diffi- 
dence in  face  of  the  glowing  argument  of  Baum- 
garten  that  just  the  opposite  is  made  known  in  this 
closing  section.  He  has  made  Luke  teach  here 
what  is  only  taught  elsewhere  (Rom.  xi)  and  what 
Luke  did  not  set  out  to  teach.  If  our  account 
gives  even  a  hint  of  the  future  of  Israel,  most  minds 
will  be  too  slow  to  take  it.  The  book  of  Acts  is 
not  concerned  about  the  Jews'  destiny.  It  traces 
the  course  of  the  gospel,  shows  how  a  church  was 
formed,  a  church  composed  of  believers,  whether 
Jews  or  Gentiles.  At  the  same  time  the  opposition 
of  the  Jew  all  along  has  been  made  clear.  That  op- 
position drove  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  It  drove 
it  to  Rome.  Luke  has  only  two  things  left  to 
note,  the  last  stage  in  the  journey  to  Rome,  and 
the  consummation  of  the  Jewish  opposition.  They 
are  judicially  blinded  and  hardened.  Now  Luke's 
aim  being  of  this  character  and  having  this  rigid 
limit,  he  cannot  answer  even  related  questions. 
He  is  not  writing  the  history  of  Paul,  but  of  the 
gospel,  and  so  he  does  not  tell  us  what  became  of 
Paul.  For  the  same  reason  he  dropped  all  men- 
tion of  Peter  and  Barnabas  and  of  the  other  actors 
prominent  at  the  first,  whenever  their  work  ceased 
to  be  connected  with  the  development  of  the 
church.     We  know  the  name  of  the  artificer  who 


THE  GOSPEL  REACHES  ITS  INTENDED  LIMIT      277 

built  the  tabernacle  in  the  wilderness,  we  know 
who  aided  him,  we  know  their  skill  and  fitness  for 
the  work  (Ex.  xxxi.  1-6),  but  we  know  nothing 
further.  We  are  not  told  what  reward  they  re- 
ceived for  their  masterly  service  or  how  or  when 
they  died.  It  is  the  tabernacle  that  the  history 
follows  and  not  the  men.  We  have  been  follow- 
ing the  church,  but  the  men  only  so  far  as  the  en- 
throned Christ  used  them  in  bringing  it  to  its  des- 
tination. 

In  the  piece  before  us  Luke  is  concerned  first  of 
all  in  bringing  Paul  to  Rome.  The  noble  Julius  is 
not  again  even  referred  to,  if  the  sixteenth  verse 
should  read  as  in  all  recent  texts: — "For  when  we 
came  to  Rome,  Paul  was  suffered  to  dwell  by  him- 
self with  a  soldier  that  kept  him."  For  more  than 
this  the  King  James'  version  has  little  authority. 
And  this  verse  is  the  only  one  in  the  section  to 
show  that  Paul  remained  a  prisoner  any  time.  The 
last  two  verses  would  leave  the  impression  that  he 
was  now  a  free  man.  Paul's  chain  is  not  before 
us.      The  journey  occupies  the  field  of  vision. 

They  started  in  a  ship  of  Alexandria.  The  name 
reminds  us  of  the  one  in  the  sixth  verse  of  the  pre- 
ceding chapter.  But  Paul  starts  now  among  wiser 
men.  These  had  "wintered"  in  the  island,  and 
had  not  recklessly  dared  the  deep  as  did  that  former 
crew.  The  very  ensign,  Castor  and  Pollux,  men- 
tioned without  a  hint  of  condemnation  for  its 
heathenism,  shows  the   seamen's    appreciation    of 


278  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

their  danger.  It  is  possible  that  the  three  days' 
stop  at  Syracuse  (v.  12)  indicates  care  in  sailing. 
The  wind  was  not  as  yet  wholly  favorable,  for  they 
came  by  a  circuitous  course  to  Rhegium.  But  now 
they  can  hasten  on.  The  south  wind  that  had  de- 
ceived the  former  crew  to  the  ruin  and  loss  of  all, 
is  harnessed  by  these  to  bring  them  well  nigh  two 
hundred  miles  north  to  port.  As  another  evidence 
of  the  prosperity  of  the  journey  we  are  informed 
that  brethren  were  found  at  Puteoli  who  entreated 
for  a  long  sojourn.  At  this  point  Luke  looks  back 
over  the  course  thus  far  and  calls  attention  to  its 
character — "and  so,"  under  such  favorable  circum- 
stances, "we  went  toward  Rome"  (v.  14).  During 
this  seven  days'stop  in  Puteoli — Luke  does  not  give 
one  hint  of  the  way  in  which  the  time  was  spent 
— news  reached  the  great  city  that  Paul  was  at  last 
coming.  Doubtless  the  brethren  of  Puteoli  sent 
word.  Thirty-three  miles  north  of  this  port  town 
the  travelers  would  strike  the  great  Appian  way 
constructed  centuries  before.  Sixty-six  miles  farther 
on,  and  forty-three  from  Rome,  was  Appii  Forum, 
and  ten  miles  still  further  was  the  Three  Taverns. 
This  long  distance  had  been  traversed  by  brethren 
from  Rome  to  meet  and  to  greet  the  apostle.  It 
cheered  his  heart.  Never  before  had  a  city  given 
him  a  welcome  on  coming.  It  is  a  token  that  his 
work  shall  be  a  success  from  the  start.  Paul  has 
power  to  guide  a  foundering  ship  to  land,  power 
to  subdue  the  serpent's   venom,    and  to   allay    the 


THE  GOSPEL  REACHES  ITS  INTENDED  LIMIT      270 

fever's  heat  at  Malta,  but  this  courtesy  from  Rome 
helps  him.  The  weaker  can  strengthen  them  who 
carry  the  great  burden  of  the  gospel.  This  meeting 
with  the  brethren  lays  Paul's  heart  open  to  view. 
It  shows  the  weight  of  responsibility  which  he 
carried.  Can  the  gospel  after  its  long  course  run 
the  final  stadium  and  reach  the  goal?  The  wel- 
come given  so  far  from  the  city's  limits  is  a  promise 
of  victory. 

When  the  city  is  reached  the  account  dismisses 
every  soul  of  the  company  except  Paul.  Even 
Luke  appears  no  more.  Of  course  this  statement 
depends  on  the  reading  of  the  sixteenth  verse  as 
found  in  the  Revised  version.  If  we  are  told  that 
Paul  dwelt  with  a  soldier  that  kept  him  it  is  only  to 
explain  why  Paul  called  for  the  Jews  to  come  to  his 
abode.      He  could  not  go  to  them. 

In  the  years  of  his  ministry  hitherto  Paul  waited 
for  the  Sabbath  to  come  that  he  might  meet  the 
Jews.  He  does  not  wait  now.  Israel's  decision 
must  be  made  quickly.  Paul  allows  himself  but 
one  day  for  rest,  the  day  between  his  arrival  and 
the  third  one  on  which  he  met  the  "chiefs."  When 
they  come  before  him  the  -first  thing  is  to  have  a 
common  understanding  Paul  is  a  prisoner,  but 
not  a  criminal.  He  had  done  no  wrong  to  the 
Jews,  nor  had  he  violated  their  customs.  But  he 
came  into  the  power  of  the  Romans  (v.  17).  After 
careful  and  repeated  examinations  the  Romans 
found  no  fault  in  him  and  would  have  released  him 


280  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

(v.  1 8)  but  the  opposition  of  the  Jews  constrained 
him  to  appeal  to  Caesar.  But  though  he  was  a 
Roman  citizen  with  all  a  Roman's  rights,  and 
though  his  hearers  as  Jews  had  but  an  uncertain 
tenure  in  the  imperial  city  he  had  not  come  to 
bring  any  charges  (v.  19).  His  presence  was 
friendly,  it  was  benevolent. 

After  this  conciliatory  introduction  he  proceeds 
to  persuade.  He  places  himself  most  affectingly 
among  his  hearers.  It  is  for  their  own  dear  hope, 
the  national  hope,  that  he  is  bound  with  this  chain 
(v.  20).  He  is  suffering  for  the  sake  of  that  for 
which  his  hearers  longed. 

Paul  has  gained  his  first  point.  These  chiefs  will 
hear  him.  And  they  will  hear  him  without  preju- 
dice and  on  his  own  merits.  For  they  confess  that 
they  have  not  learned  a  word  against  him  either 
by  letters  or  by  travelers  from  Judea.  This  is  a 
remarkable  fact.  How  is  it  that  the  malice  of  the 
Jews  did  not  pursue  him  to  Rome?  It  is  assuming 
too  much  to  say  that  Paul  outstripped  his  enemies 
in  the  journey  to  Rome,  that  they  had  not  yet  had 
time  to  arrive.  "Brethren"  had  come  (v.  21)  and 
they  spake  no  harm  of  Paul.  May.  we  not  rather 
assume  that  the  teaching  of  this  verse  is  that  Paul 
was  to  have  an  unbiased  hearing?  The  Jews  in 
Rome,  in  the  providence  and  guidance  of  God,  were 
to  have  the  gospel  placed  before  them  without  any 
entanglements.  Its  preacher  was  to  be  every  way 
acceptable  whether  the  prenching  proved  to    be  so 


THE  GOSPEL  REACHES  ITS  INTENDED  LIMIT      28l 

or  not.  This  is  the  meaning  of  these  verses  that 
set  before  us  this  preliminary  interview.  Paul  could 
so  speak  that  these  Jews  "desire"  to  hear  him. 
The  confidential  reason  which  they  give  is  that  they 
know  the  ill  repute  of  "this  sect,"  but  they  are 
ready  to  consider  its  claims  and  will  listen  to  Paul 
in  its  vindication  (v.  22).  It  is  in  this  spirit  that 
they  appoint  a  day  for  the  hearing,  and  that  many 
come. 

When  the  second  and  final  meeting  occurred, 
Paul  brings  before  the  Jews  a  twofold  topic,  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  its  relation  to  Jesus.  This 
phrase,  "kingdom  of  God,"  so  frequent  in  the  gos- 
pels, is  used  very  sparingly  in  this  book,  especially 
in  the  sense  of  the  present  instance.  In  Samaria 
Philip  preached  the  kingdom  of  God  (viii.  12). 
When  Paul  came  to  Ephesus  he  did  the  same  (xix. 
8).  Just  before  the  ascension  Jesus  spoke  of  the 
things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God  (i.  3). 
Thus  the  phrase  is  used  at  the  beginning  of  a  new 
work,  where  a  field  is  entered  for  the  first  time. 
It  is  comprehensive.  When  Priscilla  and  Aquila 
instructed  Apollos,  they  did  not  "expound"  to  him 
the  kingdom,  for  he  understood  that,  but  the  way 
of  God  (xviii.  26).  Paul's  first  aim,  then,  before 
these  Roman  Jews,  was  to  make  them  know  the 
character  of  that  kingdom  for  which  they  hoped. 
Having  such  a  theme  he  could  be  all  inclusive. 
The  whole  subject  could  be  presented  just  as  it 
must  have  been  when   Jesus  spoke    of   the   things 


282  77//J  ACtS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  would  show 
that  the  vital  principle  in  the  kingdom  was  not 
natural,  but  resurrection,  life,  and  that  this  was  at- 
tained by  submissive  faith  in  Jesus  in  whom  alone 
this  life  was  found.  When  he  came  to  speak  of 
Jesus,  after  showing  the  nature  of  the  kingdom,  he 
doubtless  would  pursue  the  course  followed  again 
and  again  in  other  places  (xvii.  3).  The  Christ 
whom  the  Jews  looked  for  must  be  a  sufferer,  he 
must  rise  from  the  dead,  and  now  this  Jesus  of 
whom  they  had  heard  met  these  conditions  exactly. 

Luke  makes  it  a  point  to  show  not  only  how 
comprehensively  Paul  spoke,  but  that  all  this  was 
revealed  in  the  Scriptures.  And  the  exposition  of 
these  lasted  from  morning  till  evening.  The  whole 
matter  was  brought  before  the  Jews.  We  do  not 
know  of  any  other  place  where  Paul  talked  so  long. 
The  meaning  of  all  this  is  that  his  auditors  were 
fully  enlightened.  Their  subsequent  act  was  intelli- 
gent and  deliberate.  They  had  all  means  to  know 
what  they  were  doing. 

The  result  of  this  all  day  meeting  was  that  some 
believed  and  some  believed  not  (v.  24).  They 
agreed  not  among  themselves.  Hereupon  Paul 
pronounces  in  the  words  of  Isaiah  (vs.  26-27)  the 
awful  sentence  of  condemnation  which  had  so  long 
lingered,  but  is  now  fully  due.  From  this  hour, 
and  who. can  tell  how  long,  it  is  settled  that  Israel 
as  a  people  has  rejected  Jesus,  and  that  they  are 
debarred  from  the  Messianic   blessing.      Individual 


THE  GOSPEL  REACHES  ITS  INTENDED  LIMIT      283 

Jews  may  receive  the  divine  favor,  but  the  nation 
for  its  faithlessness  has  missed  the  glorious  prom- 
ises of  the  prophets.  These  predictions  could  be 
realized  only  in  accepting  Jesus,  and  Jesus  the  Jews 
will  not  have. 

But  why  does  Paul  utter  these  severe  words  of 
judgment  apparently  so  hastily?  In  Ephesus  he 
tarried  three  months  before  he  withdrew  from  the 
synagogue  and  from  the  Jews  (xix.  8).  Usually 
hitherto  when  they  refused  the  gospel  he  turned 
his  attention  to  the  Gentiles  (xiii.  46).  Sometimes 
he  uttered  severe  words  on  parting  from  Israel  (xviii. 
6),  but  never  anything  so  dire  as  this.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  too,  that  the  case  here  in  Rome  is  just 
like  all  former  cases,  some  believed  and  some  be- 
lieved not.  Indeed  in  so  far  as  the  rejection  is  con- 
cerned it  was  not  as  pronounced  as  in  all  earlier 
instances.  There  is  no  violence,  no  blaspheming, 
no  assault  upon  the  apostle.  Why,  then,  does  he 
here  shut  the  door  of  present  hope  against  Israel? 
Would  this  not  have  been  more  appropriate  in 
Lystra,  where  the  Jews  incited  the  rabble  to  stone 
Paul,  or  in  Corinth,  where  they  tried  to  silence  him 
by  Roman  law? 

Israel's  judgment  is  pronounced  in  a  foreign 
land  because  the  gospel's  limit  is  reached..  The 
sentence  was  merited  long  before,  but  the  justice  of 
it  is  seen  now  that  they  have  expelled  the  truth 
from  the  world's  religious  center  and  have  driven 
it  to  the   center  of  heathenism.      Until  Rome  was 


284  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

reached  mercy  still  lingered.  But  when  earth's 
bounds  were  touched  she  had  no  longer  a  place  for 
her  foot. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  we  have  here  an  expres- 
sion not  used  before  in  reference  to  the  Jews.  It  is 
said  when  "they  agreed  not  among  themselves," 
Paul  uttered  the  word  of  exclusion.  It  was  their 
lack  of  unity  rather  than  the  complete  lack  of  faith, 
that  condemned  them.  Some  did  believe.  But 
that  all  did  not  do  so  showed  that  Israel  in  Rome 
was  just  as  Israel  had  proved  itself  to  be  every- 
where else.  The  elect  (Rom.  xi.  7)  accepted  the 
gospel  but  the  body  refused  it.  It  is  the  exclusion 
of  the  mass  which  is  here  implied  and  not  the  ex- 
clusion of  individual  Jews  who  may  still  be  saved  if 
they  will.  That  some  did  certainly  accept  Jesus  as 
the  Messiah  when  he  preached  in  Jerusalem  cannot 
be  doubted.  But  their  faith  did  not  answer  for 
the  lack  of  the  same  grace  in  the  rulers,  and  so  did 
not  prevent  Jesus'  awful  words  on  leaving  the  tem- 
ple for  the  last  time:  "Behold,  your  house  is  left 
unto  you  desolate"  (Matt,  xxiii.  38).  Paul  in  Rome 
made  one  final  attempt  to  gain  Israel.  Hence  the 
care  with  which  he  acted.  He  gets  into  full  sym- 
pathy with  them,  he  devotes  a  whole  day  to  persua- 
sion, but  when  he  won  only  a  part  it  was  demon- 
strated that  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age  had  come. 
The  vineyard  was  taken  from  them  and  was  given 
to  another  nation  (Matt.   xxi.  43). 

Rome  was  to  witness  the  end   because   it   was 


THE  GOSPEL  REACHES  ITS  INTENDED  LIMIT      285 

representative.  In  so  far  it  had  the  character  of 
Jerusalem.  The  rejection  of  Jesus  in  Galilee  stood 
for  none  but  themselves.  But  when  he  is  rejected 
in  the  Jew's  capital  the  nation  is  involved.  Israel 
had  rejected  Jesus  in  every  Roman  province  where 
his  name  was  preached.  But  the  provinces  are 
not  representative.  It  is  when  the  "chiefs"  of  the 
Jews  in  Rome  cannot  agree  to  accept  the  word  of 
grace  that  they  get  the  word  of  doom. 

If  we  compare  the  substance  of  this  apostolic 
sentence  with  former  judgments  of  Paul  against 
the  Jews,  we  shall  see  that  it  is  final.  He  had  said 
to  the  Jews  at  Antioch  that  they  were  unworthy  of 
eternal  life.  He  had  said  to  those  in  Corinth,  "Your 
blood  be  upon  your  own  head."  But  against  these 
Roman  Jews  he  employs  the  words  of  Isaiah.  They 
are  in  their  very  essence  excluding,  debarring.  And 
we  find  this  in  their  connection  elsewhere.  Jesus 
used  them.  Galilee  has  rejected  him.  The  plot 
to  kill  him  is  formed  there  (Matt.  xii.  14).  He  has 
pronounced  the  word  of  condemnation  against  the 
northern  cities.  And  now  come  the  words  of  our 
sentence  in  justification  of  no  further  plain  preach- 
ing to  them.  He  resorts  to  the  darkening  parable 
(Matt.  xiii.  14).  Again,  months  later,  Jerusalem 
repeats  the  folly  of  Galilee,  and  again  the  words 
of  Isaiah  fall  (John  xii.  40).  If  Jesus  was  again 
offered  in  Jerusalem  it  was  under  the  new  order 
of  things,  when  he  was  now  enthroned  and  his 
Spirit  had  come.      Paul,  in  discussing  the  rejection 


28C  THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 

of  Israel  in  the  epistle  to  the  Roman  church  (xi.  8), 
has  substantially  these  same  words.  And  now 
that  the  apostle  directs  them  against  his  auditors 
in  Rome  we  may  be  sure  they  were  final  for  Israel. 

That  which  Paul  deduces  (v.  28)  from  this  sen- 
tence has,  of  course,  a  significance  which  did  not 
belong  to  it  when  used,  as  substantially  it  has  been, 
before.  He  declared  in  Antioch  in  Pisidia  that 
he  would  turn  to  the  Gentiles  (xiii.  46).  But  when 
he  says  now  that  "the  salvation  of  God  is  sent  un- 
to the  Gentiles,"  he  means  that  this  is  irrevocable. 
For  it  is  added  here:  "They  will  hear  it." 

The  twenty-ninth  verse  is  not  an  approved  read- 
ing. Meyer  pleads  for  it,  but  without  giving  very 
good  reasons  for  retaining  it  in  the  text.  It  may 
be  imagined,  however,  that  it  accurately  describes 
the  state  of  things  among  the  Jews  when  they  de- 
parted from  him  who  had  made  them  as  a  people 
the  last  offer  of  salvation. 

Luke's  work  is  done.  He  has  shown  how  the 
Jew  lost  the  honor  of  being  the  leader  of  the  Lord's 
worship  in  the  world,  and  how  another  holy  nation 
was  formed  on  which  that  honor  was  conferred. 
But  he  adds  one  note  about  Paul.  He  dwelt  in  his 
own  hired  house,  received  all  who  came,  and 
preached  without  hindrance.  This  is  substantially 
the  condition  of  God's  church  to-day.  It  controls 
its  own  house  of  worship,  whose  doors  are  open 
to  all  who  come,  and  in  all  the  world  the  gospel 
of  the  grace  of  God  can  be  preached  "with  all  con- 


THE  GOSPEL  REACHES  ITS  INTENDED  LIMIT      287 

fidence,  no  man  forbidding."  And  this  present 
condition  of  things  began  where  Luke  leaves  Paul 
the  master  of  his  own  house. 


M*nd  for  a  list  of  contents  of  entire  series. 

A    LIBRARY    OK     CRITICAL    LEARNING. 


LIUINCa    PAPERS 

ON   PRESENT  DAY  THEMES. 

A  SCRIES  OFTEN  VOLUMES   COVERING  A  WIDE  RANGE  OF  SUBJECTS  ON 
CHRISTIAN   EVIDENCE,    DOCTRINE  AND   MORALS. 

We  wish  to  place  this  set  of  books  in  the  library  of  every  thoughtfttl 
minister. 

The  set  cannot  but  be  desired  as  soon  as  their  worth  is  known. 

The  subjects  treated  are  the  leading  topics  of  the  day,  and  the  writers 
are  acknowledged  authorities  on  the  particular  themes  discussed. 

Note  the  remarkable  list  of  names  included  among-  the  contributors. 


Principal  Caibns, 

Rev.  C.  A.  Row, 

W.  G.  Blackie,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Prebendary  Row,  M.A., 

Rev.  Noah  Porter,  D.D., 

Canon  Rawlinson, 

H.  R.  Pattison,  F.G.8., 

Dr.  Fbiedrich  Pfaff, 

Dean  of  Canterbury, 

Henry  Wace,  D.D., 

Rev.  W.  F.  Wilkinson,  M.A., 

James  Legge,  LL.D., 

Rev.  W.  G.  Elmslie,  M.A., 

Dean  of  Chester, 

J.  Murray  Mitchell,  LL-D.. 

F.  Godet,  D.D., 

EubtaoeP.  Conder,  M.A.,  D.D. 


Rev.  James  Iverach,  M.A., 

A.  H.  i-iayce,  M.A., 

Rev.  J.  Radford  Thomson,  M.A., 

Rev.  William  Arthur, 

Sir  W.  Muir, 

Rev.  A.  B.  Bruce,  D.D.. 

Alexander  Macalister,  M.A.,  M.D., 

Rev.  G.  F.  Macleah^D.D., 

Rev.  J .  Stoughton,  D.D. , 

Rev.  R.  MoCeeyne  Edgar,  M.A.. 

Rev.  John  Cairns,  D.D., 

Sir  J.  William  Dawson,  F.R.S., 

Rev.  W.  S.  Lewis,  M.A., 

Fev.  John  Kelly, 

Rev.  M.  Kaufmann,  M.A., 

^    vON  GlRDLESTONE, 
^...  I  others. 


Can  you  in  any  other  shape  add  to  your  library  so  much  valuable 
material  with  so  small  an  expenditure? 

These  have  until  lately  been  sold  at  $1.25  per  vol.,  $12.50  per  set. 
The  price  has  now  been  reduced  to  $10.00  per  set,  and  we  make  tha 
following 

Special  Offer,  viz. :  We  will  send  this  remarkable  set  of  books  to 
any  minister  for  the  special  net  price  of  $7.50  Per  Set. 


,4S.,SoTa£o°nstml.  Fleming  H.  I^eVell Go. 


NEW  YORK : 

112  Fifth  Ave.,  near  16th. 


By-Paths  of  Bible   Knowledge. 

•The  volumes  issuing  under  the  above  general  title  fully  deserve  suc« 
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These  books  are  -written  by  specialists,  and  their  aim  is  to  give  the 
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15.     Early  Bible  Songs. 

With  introduction  on  the  Nature  and  Spirit  of  Hebrew  Song,  by         * 

A.  H.  Drysdale  M.   A $100 

14.    Modern  Discoveries  on  the  Site  of  Ancient  Ephesus. 

By  J.T.Wood,  F.  S.  A.    Illustrated $100 

13.     The  Times  of  Isaiah. 

As  illustrated  from  Con  temporary  Monuments.  By  A.  H.  Sayce,  LL.  D.      .80 
12.    The  Hittites;  or  the  Story   of  a  Forgotten  Empire. 

By  A.  H.  Sayce,  LL.  D.    Illustrated.   Crown,  8vo $1  20 

11.    Animals  of  the  Bible. 

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and  Professor  Hull's  Palestine  Expedition.  Illustrated,  Crown,  8vo  $1  20 
10,    The  Trees  and  Plants  Mentioned  in  the  Bible. 

By  W.  H.  Groser,  B.  Sc.    Illustrated $1  00 

9.    The  Diseases  of  the  Bible. 

By  Sir  J.  Risdon  Bennett $10© 

8.    The  Dwellers  on  the  Nile. 

Chapters  on  the  Life,  Literature.  History  and  Customs  of  Ancient 
Egypt.  By  E.  A.  Wallis  Budge,  M.  A.,  Assistant  in  Department  of 
Oriental  Antiquities,  British  Museum.    Illustrated $1  20 

7.  Assyria;  Its  Princes,  Priests  and  People. 

By  A.  H.  Sayce,  M.  A.,  LL.  D.,  author  of  "Fresh  Light  from  Ancient 
Monuments,"    "Introduction  to  Ezra,  Nehemiah  and  Esther,"  etc. 

Illustrated $120 

6.    Egypt  and  Syria. 

Their  Physical  Features  in  Relation  to  Bible  History.  By  Sir  J.  W. 
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author  of  "The  Chain  of  Life  in  Geological  Time."  etc.    Second 

edition,  revised  and  enlarged.    With  many  i  llustration6 $1  20 

6.    Galilee  in  the  time  oi  Christ. 

By  Selah  Merrill,  D.  D.,  author  of  "East  of  the  Jordan,"  etc.  With  Map  $100 
4.    Babylonian  Life  and  History. 

By  E.  A.  Willis  Budge,  M.  A.,  Cambridge,  Assistant  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Oriental  Antiquities,  Britioh  Museum,  illustrated $120 

8.  Becent  Discoveries  on  the  Temple  Hill  at  Jerusalem. 

By  the  Rev.  J.  King,  M.  A.,  Authorized  Lecturer  for  the  Palestine 

Exploration  Fund.    With  Maps,  Plans  and  Illustrations $1  Oft 

%.    Fresh  Lights  From  the  Ancient  Monuments. 

A  Sketch  of  the  moet  striking  Confirmations  of  the  Bible  from  recent 
discoveries  in  Egypt,  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Palestine  and  Asia  Minor. 
By  A.  H.  Sayce,  LL.  D.,  Deputy  Professor  of  Comparative  Philology, 

Oxford,  etc.    With  f ac-similes  from  photographs $1  2*3 

1.    Cleopatra's  Needle. 

History  of  the  London  Obelisk,  with  an  Exposition  of  the  Hiero- 
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tion  Fund.    With  Illustrations $1  Oft 


248-150  Madison  Street.    flBIHIllQ   Hi   KBvBll  UOi  hi  Fifth  Ave.,  near  i6th 


Writings  of  Rev.  F.  B.  MEYER,  B.  A. 

Mr.  Meyer  always  writes  to  edification—  C.  H.  SPURGEON. 


^f  0£££JK     Beloved— Hated— Exalted.     Cloth,  16  mo.,  $1.00. 

In  the  present  volume  Mr.  Meyer  retells  with  skill  and  pathos  the 
old-world  story  of  the  Israelitish  youth  who  rose  through  pit  and  prison  to 
the  post  of  Premier  of  Egypt;  a  story  of  undying  interest  and  worth,  not 
only  as  a  true  tale  of  Eastern  romance,  but  as  a  unique  example  of  the 
value  of  piety,  purity  of  life  and  fidelity  in  service. 


& 


IOTH  THOUSAND, 

brai]  am  :      or,  The  Obedience  of  Faith.     Cloth,  16  mo.,  $1.00. 


A  book  we  would  very  heartily  commend  to  those  who  desire  to  make 
progress  in  Christian  life  and  experience;  each  will  find  it  helpful  and  sug- 
gestive, sending  new  light  upon  many  a  well-known  narrative. — Christian 
Progress. 

The  contents  of  the  book  before  us  are  such  that  no  one  can  rise  from 
its  perusal  without  feeling  consciously  strengthened  in  God  and  inspired 
afresh  for  the  Godly  life. — Sunday-School  Chronicle. 

Really  a  very  beautiful  work,  which  will  be  read  with  delight  by 
many  a  fireside.  After  all,  this  home-like  treatment  of  Scripture  biography, 
with  the  object  of  bringing  out  the  spiritual  lessons,  is  amongst  the  highest 
and  most  profitable  studies. —  The  Freeman. 

13TH  thousand! 
91 8  r  a  1 1  :      A  Prince  with  God.     Cloth,  16  mo.,  $1.00. 

Mr.  Meyer  ha*  great  descriptive  power.  He  can  tell  a  narrative 
well.  This  subject  in  his  hand  glows  with  life,  and  the  scenes  and  events  in 
the  history  of  his  hero  pass  vividly  before  you,  and  are  ever  being  used  to 
force  home  some  important  principle. — British  Messenger. 

With  a  keen  moral  insight,  and  a  deep  spiritual  sympathy,  he  de- 
scribes the  piety  and  weakness  of  the  best  beloved  of  the  Patriarchs^ 
— Christian  Leader. 

Exceedingly  good,  not  only  spiritual,  but  also  thoughtful,  fresh,  sug« 
festive  and  thoroughly  practical. —  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  in  Sword  and  Trowel, 

From  first  to  last  the  book  is  richly  suggestive  and  spiritually  fruit- 
ful.— Word  and  Work. 

I5TH   THOUSAND, 

1  i  j  a  !]  :      and  the  Secret  of  his  Power.,     Cloth,  16  mo.,  $1.00. 

The  leading  object  of  this  volume  is  to  show  that  Elijah's  God  is  our 
God;  and  how  a  like  dependence  may  be  ours  if  our  dependence  is  in  the 
living  God.  It  is  encouraging  and  stimulating;  yet  full  of  solemn  warnings. 
Some  parts  are  grandly  written  and  of  thrilling  interest. — Footsteps  of 
Truth. 

Good,  exceedingly  good  !  Mr.  Meyer  is  a  great  gain  to  the  armies  ot 
Evangelical  truth;  for  his  tone,  spirit  and  aspirations  are  all  of  a  fine  Gospel 
sort. — Sword  and  Trowel. 

new york  ::  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.  ::    Chicago, 


WRITINGS  OF  REV.  F.   B.  MEYER,  B.  A. 


"^Tl^ritfb  bt)  JHrtf*11     Expositions  of  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter.  Cloth 

We  doubt  whether  any  work  has  appeared  since  the  time  of  Leighton, 
on  the  same  subject,  which  equals  the  one  before  us.  These  expositions  of 
■one  of  the  richest  of"  the  Epistles  are  brightly  and  beautifully  written,  and 
infused  by  a  lofty  and  evangelical  Christian  spirit — Primitive  Methodist. 


I 


2IST  THOUSAND. 

lie  flhresent  Senses  of  \\\z  Blesseb  £ife.    cioth,  32  mo.,  50c. 


We  commend  the  book  as  one  that  cannot  fail  to  be  read  with  profit, 
—Evangelical  Christendom. 

A  gem  and  brimful  of  spiritual  life — Methodist  New  Connexion 
Magazine. 

20TH  THOUSAND, 

ffl^tistian  Cimng.    cioth,  32  mo.,  50c. 

Full  of  sweetness  and  light.  No  Christian  can  read  it  and  fail  to 
receive  stimulus  in  the  direction  whither  the  true-hearted  would  go. — Con> 
gregational  Magazine. 

Special  stress  is  made  in  this  little  volume  on  the  practical  side  of  the 
Christian  life.  Thoughts  calculated  to  strengthen  and  inspire  in  the  per» 
formance  of  every-day  duties,  are  put  in  clear  and  simple  form. — Advance. 

Tbey  prove  most  refreshing  reading;  and  for  the  culture  of  the  relig- 
ous  life  we  can  recommend  nothing  better. — Standard. 


% 


I9TH  THOUSAND. 

I)e  Sliepberb  JJsalm.    Med^tion0scon  the  23d  Psalm*    cloth*  3* 

We  have  never  read  anything  so  charming  on  the  Twenty-third 
Psalm.  It  is  full  of  beauty  and  poetry.  Anything  that  this  gifted  and 
spiritual  author  writes  requires  no  recommendation,  as  he  is  well  known  to 
the  Christian  public. — Irish    Congregational  Magazine. 

Mr.  Meyer  has  given  us  a  devotional  work  on  this  inspired  Psalm 
which  every  Christian  man  and  woman  should  not  only  read  but  carry  about 
in  his  pocket  in  order  to  snatch  even  amid  the  busy  employment  of  life  an 
uplifting  and  elevating  thought.  This  little  book  is  worth  its  weight  in 
gold. — Central  Baptist. 

Envelope  Series  of  Booklets,  by  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer. 

The  Chambers  of  the  King.      Words  of  Help  for  Christian  The  Lost  Chord  Found. 
With  Christ  in  Separation.  Girls.  Why  Sign  the  Pledge  ? 

.Seven  Rules  for  Dai  y  Living,  The  Filling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Secret  of  Power. 
The  Secret  of  Victory  over  Sin.  The  Stewardship  of  Money.     Our  Bible  Reading. 
The  First  Step  into  the  Blessed  Where  am  I  Wrong?  The  Secret  of  Guidance. 

Life.  Young  Man,  Don't  Drift!  Peace,  Perfect  Peace. 

20C.  per  dozen,  or  $1.50  per  100. 
CHOICE  EXTRACTS  from  writings  of  F.  B.  Meyer,  48  pages,  5c  per  copy;  35c  dozen. 

new york.  ::    Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.  •.:     Chicago. 


REFERENCE   BOOKS 


FOR 


BIBLE    STUDENTS. 


JAMIESON,  FAUSSET   &   BROWN'S    Popular  Portable  Com- 
mentary.      Critical,  Practical,   Explanatory.       Four  volumns  in  neat 
box,  fine  cloth,  $8.00;  half  bound,  $10.00. 
A  new  edition,  containing  the  complete  unabridged  notes  in  clear  type  on  good  paper, 

in  four  handsome  12  mo.  volumes  of  about  1.000  pages  each,  with  copious  index,  numerous 

illustrations  and  maps,  and  a  Bible  Dictionary  compiled  from  Dr.  Wm.  Smith's  standard 

work. 

Bishop  Vincent  of  Chautauqua  fame  says  :  "  The  best  cocdensed  commentary  on  the 

whole  Bible  is  Jamieson,  Fausset  &  Brown." 

CRU  DEN'S  UNABRIDGED  CONCORDANCE  TO  THE 
HOLY  SCRIPTURES.  With  life  of  the  author.  864  pp.,  8vo., 
cloth  (net),  $1.00;  half  roan,  sprinkled  edges  (net),  2.00;  half  roan, 
full  gilt  edges  (net),  '$2.50. 

SMITH'S  BIBLE  DICTIONARY,  comprising  its  Antiquities,  Biog- 
raphy, Geography  and  Natural  History,  with  numerous  maps  and  illus- 
trations. Edited  and  condensed  from  his  great  work  by  William 
Smith,  LL.  D.     776  pages,  8vo,  many  illustrations,  cloth,  $1.50. 

THE  BIBLE  TEXT  CYCLOPEDIA.  A  complete  classification  of 
Scripture  Texts  in  the  form  of  an  alphabetical  list  of  subjects.  By 
Rev.  James  Inglis.     Large  8vo,  524  pages,  cloth,  $  1.75. 

The  plan  is  much  the  same  as  the  "  Bible  Text  Book"  with  the  valuable  additions* 
help  in  that  the  texts  referred  to  are  quoted  in  full.  Thus  the  student  is  saved  the.  time  and 
labor  of  turning  to  numerous  passages,  which,  when  found,  may  not  be  pertinent  to  the 
subject  he  has  in  hand. 

THE  TREASURY  OF  SCRIPTURE  KNOWLEDGE;  consist- 
ing of  500,000  scripture  references  and  parallel  passages,  with  numer- 
ous notes.     8vo,  778  pages,  cloth,  $2.00. 

A  single  examination  of  this  remarkable  compilation  of  references  will  convince  the 
reader  of  the  fact  that  "  the  Bible  is  its  own  best  interpreter." 

THE  WORKS  OF  FLAVIUS  JOSEPHUS,  translated  by  William 
Whiston,  A.  M.,  with  Life,  Portrait,  Notes  and  Index.  A  new  cheap 
edition  in  clear  type.     Large  8vo,  684  pages,  cloth,  $2.00. 

100.000  SYNONYMS  AND  ANTONYMS.  By  Rt.  Rev.  Samuel 
Fallows,  A.  M.,  D.  D.      512  pages,  cloth,  $1.00. 

A  comolete  Dictionary  of  synonyms  and  words  of  opposite  meanings,  with  an  appen- 
dix of  Briticisms,  Americanisms,  Colloquialisms,  Homonims,  Homophonous  words,  Foreign 
Phrases,  etc.,  etc. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  best  books  of  its  kind  we  have  seen,  and  probably  there  is  nothing 
puo.ished  in  the  country  that  is  equal  to  it."—  Y.  M.   C.  A.   Watchman. 


new york.  ::  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company  ::  Chicago. 


SUGGESTIVE  BOOKS  -  - 

-  -  for  BIBLE  READERS. 


NEW  NOTES  FOR  BIBLE  READINGS.  By  the  late  S.  R.  Briggs, 
with  brief  Memoir  of  the  author  by  Rev.  Jas.  H.  Brookes,  D.  D., 
Crown  8vo,  cloth,  $1.00  ;  flexible,  75  cents. 

"  New  Notes"  is  not  a  reprint,  and  contains  Bible  Readings  to  be  found  in  no  other 
similar  work,  and,  it  is  confidently  believed,  will  be  found  more  carefully  prepared,  and 
therefore  more  helpful  and  suggestive. 

Everyone  of  the  60,000  readers  of  "  Notes  and  Suggestions  for  Bible  Readings"  will 
welcome  this  entirely  new  collection  containing  selections  from  D.  L.  Moody,  Major  Whittle, 
J.  H.  Brookes,  D.  D.,  Prof.  W.  G.  Moorehead,  Rev.  E.  P.  Marvin,  Jno.  Currie,  Rev.  W.  J 
Erdraan,  Rev.  F.  E.  Marsh,  Dr.  L.  W.  Munhall,  etc. 

NOTES  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BIBLE  READINGS.   By 

S.  R.  Briggs  and  J.  H.  Elliott. 

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THE  OPEN  SECRET ;  or,  The  Bible  Explaining  Itself.     A  series 

of  intensely  practical  Bible  readings.     By  Hannah  Whitall  Smith. 

320  pp.     Fine  cloth,  $1.00. 

That  the  author  of  this  work  has  a  faculty  <>f  presenting  the  "  Secret  Things"  that  are 

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The  plan  of  these  expositions  is  suggestive  rather  than  exhaustive,  and  these  suggestions 
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BIBLE  HELPS  FOR  BUSY  MEN.     By  A.  C.  P.  Coote. 

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"  Likely  to  be  of  use  to  overworked  brethren." — C.  H.  Si'URGEON. 
"  Given  in  a  clear  and  remarkably  telling  form." —  Christian  Leader. 

RUTH,  THE  MOABITESS;  or  Gleaning  in  the  Book  of  Ruth. 

By  Henry  Moorhouse.     i6mo.,  paper  covers,  20c;   cloth,  40c. 
A  characteristic  series  of  Bible  readings,  full  of  suggestion  and  instruction. 

BIBLE  READINGS.     By  Henry  Moorhouse.     i6mo.,  paper  covers, 

30  cents  ;  cloth,  60  cents. 

A  series  by  one  pre-eminejitly  the  man  of  one  book,  an  incessant,  intense,  prayerful 
student  of  the  Bible. 

SYMBOLS   AND   SYSTEMS    IN    BIBLE  READINGS. 

Rev.  W.  F.  Crafts.     64  pages  and  cover,  25  cents. 
Giving  a  plan  of  Bible  reading,  with  fifty  verses  definitely  assigned  for  each  day,  the 
Bible  being  arranged  in  the  order  of  its  event?       The  entire  symbolism  ot  the  Bible  ex- 
plained concisely  and  clearly. 


NEW  YORK. 


Fleming  H.  Revell  Company  -Chicago. 


f  0J|    Woi{K  /{fKOfiq    Cif}LDi{Efi. 


Attractive  Truths  in  Lesson  and  Story.    By  Mrs.  A.  M.  Scudder,  frith 
introduction   by   Rev.  F.  E  Clarke,  Prest.  Y.    P.  S.  C.    E.     ia   mc 
cloth,  $i  25. 
A  series  of  outline  lessons  with  illustrative  stories  for  Junior  Christian  Endeavor 
Societies,  for  Children's  meetings  and  for  home  teaching. 

Not  only  for  workers  among  children  will  this  work  be  appreciated,  but  mothers 
will  find  it  a  delightful  Sunday  afternoon  volume  for  their  children,  suggesting  an  end- 
less variety  of  "occupations,'1  besides  charming  with  its  many  beautiful  stories. 

Children's  Meetings  and  How  to  Conduct  Them.     By  Lucy  J.  Rider, 

and  Nellie  M.  Carman,  introduction  by  Bishop  J.  H.  Vincent.  208 
pp.,  cloth,    illustrated,  $1  00;  paper  covers,  50  cents. 

"Mr.  Kevell  has  conferred  a  favor  on  the  Christian  public,  especially  that  large 
part  of  it  interested  in  the  right  training  of  children,  in  publishing  this  most  practical 
work." — The  Adva?ice. 

"Just  such  a  work  as  teachers  have  long  wanted.  It  will  2t  once  take  a  place 
among  the  indispensables." — N.  T.  Observer. 

"Among  the  contributors  to  this  volume  are  nearly  all  the  best  known  Sunday- 
school  writers  of  this  country.  The  book  is  a  cyclopedia  of  helpful  hints  on  the  best 
plans  of  working  among  the  children,  plans  suggested  by  the  actual  experience  of  the 
contributors." 

Clear  as  Crystal.     By  Rev.  R.  T.  Cross.     Fifty,  five  minute  talks  on  les- 
sons from  Crystals.     206  pp.,  beveled  cloth,  $1  00. 

"The  Sermons  belong  to  the  five  minute  series,  and  are  models  of  what  can  be 
done  in  so  brief  a   space." — The  Independent 

"Most  interesting  in  style,  and  full  of  spirituality.  We  commend  this  volume  es- 
pecially to  teachers  who  understand  the  value  of  fresh  illustrations  from  nature." — 
The  Christian  at  Work. 

Talks  to  Children.     By  Rev.  T.  T.  Eaton,   D.  D.,  with  introduction  by 
Rev.  John  A.  Broadus,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.       16  mo.  cloth,  $1  00. 

':Dr.  Eaton's  Talk;  appear  to  us  to  possess  in  an  unusual  dfgree  the  qualities 
which  interest  and  profit  young  hearers  and  readers.  They  reproduce  Scripture  his- 
tory in  the  terms  of  modern  life  and  give  it  both  a  vivid  setting  before  the  youthful 
imagination,  and  a  firm  grip  on  the  youthful  conscience. "—The  independent. 

"We  have  examined  this  work  with  intense  interest.  We  hnve  read  many  books 
of  this  kind,  but  rue  honestly  believe  that  this  volume  of  Dr.  Eaton's  excels  them  all." — 
Central  Baptist. 

"The  best  book  of  the  kind  we  remember  to  have  seen.  We  commend  it  especially 
to  parents  reading  aloud  to  their  children  Sunday  afternoon." — Examiner. 

Short  Talks  to  Young  Christians,     on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity. 
By  Rev.  C.  O.  Brown.     168  pages,  cloth,  50c,  paper,  30  cents. 

"Books  that  are  really  useful,  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  could  almost  be 
counted  on  one's  fingers.  One  which  has  been  singled  out  from  a  host  of  others  by  its 
plain  straight  forward  sense  is  'Short  Talks  to  Young  Christians  on  the  Evidences', 
by  the  Rev.  C.  O.  Brown.1' — Sunday  School  Times. 

Conversion  of  Children.     By  Rev.  E.  P.  Hammond.     A  practical  volume 
replete  with  incident  and  illustration.  Suggestive,  important  and  timely. 
184  pages,  cloth,  75  cents,  paper  cover,  30  cents. 
Young  People's  Christian  Manual.     By  Rev.  Chas  L.  Morgan.    32mc 
booklet,  5  cents;  25  copies,  $1  00. 

A  Catechetical  Manual  for  the  instruction  of  the  young  for  use  in  Pastor*"  Train- 
ing Classes,  Societies  of  Christian  Endeavor,  Sunday  School,  or  Family. 

"I  have  for  years  felt  the  need  of  something  of  this  sort.  I  wish  the  Manual, 
might  be  wanted  a  widely  as  J  am  sure  it  is  needed." — Josiah  Strongs  D.  Z>.,  author 
"'Our  Country."  


Chicago:  FTnTniniT  IT    EdT/dTT  r*r»  NEW  YOR> 

H8-1 50  Madison  Street,   f  HjlillllU    II.   fitjVljll  UU«  30  Union  Squan    <£**£ 


Popular  Helps  for  Pulpit  and  Platform. 


Spurgeon's  Sermon  Notes.  Tol.  1,  Genesis  to  Proverbs.  $1.00.  Vol.  2% 
Ecelesiastes  to  Malachi,  $1.00.  Vol.  3,  Matthew  to  Acts,  $1.00. 
Vol.  4,  Romans  to  Revelations,  $1.00. 

"It  is  a  rare  treat  to  get  into  the  study  and  as  it  were,  behind  the  scenes  with  a 
great  man  like  Charles  Spurs-eon.  In  these  analyses,  thorough  and  elaborate  as  they 
are,  one  discovers  the  method  of  the  Ta  ernacle  preacher.  Each  of  the  sermon, 
outlines  have  an  accompaniment  of  apt  illustrations  and  side-lights."— Standard. 

"Every  paragraph  opens  a  mine  of  riches." — Interior. 


EIGHTH  EDITION. 

The  Prayermeeting  and  its  Improvement.     By  Rev.  L.  O.  Thompson. 

12  mo;  cloth,  $1.25. 

"Most  heartily  do  we  wish  this  work  a  wide  circulation,  both  among  pastors  and 
people,  and  we  hope  it  may  do  much  towards  the  lifting  of  the  prayer-meeting  into 
that  higher  place  which  it  ought  to  hold  among  the  grand  instrumentalities  in  the 
kingdom  of  the  Master."—  Congragationalist. 

"Mr.  Thompson  says  some  capital  things  in  a  telling  manner,  and,  as  his  pages- 
are  full  of  fire  and  gunpowder,  we  hope  certain  old,  worn-out  things  among  us  will  be 
exploded,  and  good  things  set  on  fire.  This  is  so  good  a  book  that  we  wish  we  could 
afford  to  give  a  copy  of  it  to  every  young  minister,"— C.  H.  Spurgeon. 


Books  of  Illustration,  Anecdote,  Etc.,  for  Teachers  and  Preachers. 

Seed  Corn  for  the  Sower.    Compiled  by  Rev.  C.  Perrin,  Ph.  D.     12 

mo;  cloth,  $1.50. 

No  public  speaker  need  be  reminded  of  the  effective  power  of  an  apt  illustration  or 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  such  as  are  fresh  and  to  the  point.  "Seed  Corn"  consists  of 
the  material  from  a  working  pastor's  note  book,  gathered  during  a  ministry  of  over  a 
quarter  of  a  century. 

"To  teachers  and  all  engaged  in  Bible  instruction,  it  will  prove  a  volume  of  great 
help  and  usefulness  and  furnish  ready  to  their  hand  many  a  nail  with  which  to  fasten  in 
a  sure  place  the  truths  they  may  desire  to  drive  home." — Christian  at  Work. 

Feathers  for  Arrows.     By  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon.     12  mo;  cloth,  $  1.00. 

A  choicer  collection  of  illustrations  we  do  not  know.  Mr.  Spurgeon  has  few 
equals  in  the  choice  and  use  of  effective  illustration  matter. 

Spurgeon's   Gems.     Being  a  collection  of  extracts,  pointed,  brilliant  and 
effective,  from  the  works  of  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon.   12  mo;  cloth,  $1.00. 

Gleanings  Among  the  Sheaves.    By  Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon.    16  mo; 
cloth,  60  cents. 
Full  ripe  ears  ar«  these  if  they  are  but  "gleanings." 

Bowes'  (Rev.  G.  S.)  Scripture,  Itself  the  Illustrator.    Cloth,  $1.25. 

•■  "  Information  and  Illustration  for  Sermons  and 

Addresses.    Cloth,  $1.25. 

Two  well  known  and  most  helpful  books  of  illustration. 


new  york.   Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,   Chicago. 


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